Persevere. It’s the hardest part.

One of my oldest friends once told me his philosophy about life. The world doesn’t seem balanced, but it is. A good thing will come along that makes you happy. Then other good things follow. You all of a sudden have this feeling of superiority. This elated state prevents you from feeling bad about the less than thrilling parts of life. Nothing can bring you down until something actually does. The safety net breaks and you fall hard. Your peace shatters. One event or several that simultaneously occur will begin this downfall. As you drop to the floor, all the tiny things matter. They sting and bruise. And nothing can bring you back up again, until you let it. You find the strength to climb back up and find the good again. When you start climbing, the good comes. The cycle begins again. Good days pass followed by bad ones. Karma, fate, random happenstance; they all achieve balance in the end.

How do we persevere through our hardships? My friend and I are still working on that. We’re two young adults who have no idea what we want from the world. Did you expect our philosophy to be flawless? In fact, we both recently had troubles persevering. Hell, maybe I should not have used the past tense in the preceding sentence. We, being young, get stuck on things.

As I rebuild past moments in my head and kick myself, I can look at Bernini’s David to get a good idea of what I should actually be doing. Bernini creates movement. He forges action out of motionless rock. Sitting alone in my room will not help. I must move. David and I both stand in the middle of a storm, but you cannot see a physical cloud hovering over us. Bernini did not sculpt the giant David must slay. Instead he focused on the hero’s internal struggle. David stands hunched over, readying his slingshot. This hunching brings the weight of the world down upon him. The strain can be seen on his face and in his physique, but does it look like this will stop David? No. His left foot pushes off the ground, canceling the downward force. He can hold himself up. He sucks in his lips. Nostrils flare. Eyebrows scrunch. David will not stop. He will move towards the giant. He will slay the giant.

Triumph comes to those who try. David moves against the problems facing him. My friend and I must do that. Rolling over and dying simply isn’t our style. And I refuse to let it become us. I feel secure in our philosophy. Good days will be good if you let them, and if you do not dwell on the preceding bad one.