Sometimes I think that there is great courage in keeping on. Simply keeping on when you'd rather just give up.
Today I was going to blog about "Perseverance" until I saw that I already had. Still, I think it's a good idea, one that we all can be reminded of (including me).
I've been a little slack with Wellness Wednesdays lately. Hopefully now I'm back in the groove.
It also feels really good to be caught up in blogging. That way there is no backlog, and I can share whatever is there for the day.
One thing I forgot to tell you about was my passport. I had tried and tried to get it for two years, and had all kinds of problems because I'd changed my first name, middle name, and last name over the years (some multiple times). I ended up with a request for testimonies from people who had been present at my birth AND who knew me by my current name---which is...no one! I was pretty frustrated!
A few weeks before I went to Hawaii I just decided to sit down and document every single little change---every jot and tittle---and to write a note in red ink explaining in detail what that change was, labelling EVERYTHING along with pertinent documentation, of course. I kept thinking that there was a person in Charleston, WV (where US passports are processed) behind this whole process who would get my portfolio, read it, and understand that I wasn't a terrorist, but simply a person who had done all the right things but who had gotten lost in the system. I took inspiration from Kikipotamus who is a real person in the insurance industry trying to help others!
Here is a video of my portfolio. It's pretty funny (just over two minutes, blurred to protect my privacy!):
Well, I got my portfolio fed-ex-ed back to me post haste along with my passport the day before we left for Hawaii! It ended up that my passport was vital for me to have, too, because my driver's license had expired about six months before and I didn't know. So on the trip I fell back upon my passport. And I fell back upon the Person Behind the Passport, a clerical person who read my portfolio and who understood that I wasn't a person trying to evade the law, but just someone who had had quite a few adventures in the area of name changes.
So it worked...a testimony to perseverance...
If we persevere, we're bound to become well. Or weller than we'd be if we hadn't. Keep on keeping on!
7 comments:
That is good to know, especially since I am planning on doing a name change and have been concerned about my passport. :)
Save everything Chani, and change your name on your Social Security Card as well. Do you passport now rather than later! :)
xxoo, O
oh, that's such a cool story, olivia!i love how the fact that you can picture a real person behind it all helped you to persevere. congratulations!
Wow! Sounds like A lot of work but well worth it. I am glad things worked out.
So glad it all worked out and you got to have your wonderful holiday! And now to have that record of your life in order like that - so precious.
Annie
xxx
I think it was the Dalai Llama who said 'never give up, no matter what is going on' So glad that your perseverence paid off.
Thanks, gals, for all of your support. Picturing a real person was the key to it all, Leah. It was a lot of work, Kristine; most of the hardship was the years of procrastination rather than the actual doing, though! Isn't that often the way it is? And, yes, Annie, I'm so glad it worked out that I made it on holiday and now have a record of my past...I take courage, Patti, from the Dalai Lama and hope that I can embody this perseverance in my life!
Love and peace and blessings to you,
O
xxoo
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