On Persistance: I'm interested enough in the etymology and philology of words (where they come from and how they change over time) that I run an internet search every now and then when I wonder, "Huh; why do we say that?" That is to say: I trust the first result I read, and only dig deeper if things get interesting (yes; I realize "interesting" is perhaps doing some heavy lifting here.) 😂 Words often change meaning over time, or get pronounced or spelled in different ways. "Ye olde shoppe" is one of my favourites— British spelling for emphasis —because there is a fascinating, yet quite practical reason it looks like "yee" but is actually pronounced "the". But, my message today is about persistence: Roots and History - The Prefix: per-, which means "through". - The Base: It combines with sistere, "to stand". - French Influence: The verb "persister" was adapted to a noun form "persistance". - English Adoption: English borrowed the word, adding a firm or stubborn connotation. Today, the English meaning and spelling essentially reflects the Latin origin! In other words, it has ... persisted! 👏 So have I. I've started negotiations with a client in February. I had an idea for their marketing, communications, and website. It's a bit of a seasonal business: STEAM programming for school children. So, I wanted to get started early, and set a foundation for their Fall operations this year. But they went a different direction. We've kept in touch. I've followed up regularly. They've sent back questions. Yada yada. Essentially, I developed a good bit of rapport (another English word borrowed from the French). Today, I contracted with them to do the work. I couldn't have expected this yesterday, but I feel lighter today. My shoulders have less tension. I'm more harmonious in my interactions with people around me. Something feels right that I didn't even know felt wrong before. I can't attribute that entirely to the completion of this goal, but I'd be ignorant if I didn't realize it's a contributing factor. It's not just the business side of things, either; this is not my biggest client by far.