Have you ever been tempted to give up? You strive toward an objective for so long and then one day you just say, "it's not worth it." The finish line seems so unattainable you're discouraged by the amount of work necessary to cross it. Maybe you don't think you have what it takes. That's me.

Not very long ago I was thinking of selling my camera. I would try to encourage myself by believing that the next lens or filter would revolutionize my work. When it didn't, I thought maybe I just didn't have what it took. I'd look at pictures from other photographers and rather than get excited I'd be discouraged, "Why can't I get a picture like that?" I try to convince myself that they had an advantage in equipment, but when you find out they're shooting with equipment that's inferior to yours it's anything but encouraging. But I stick to it. Sometimes I'm not sure why, but I stick to it.

Sometimes you get a "bone" that encourages you to keep striving. One such bone came via an article in Chris Shepherd's photography blog. After reading that blog, every time I wasn't happy with a picture, I was reminded of what he said. You should give it a read - even if you're not a photographer. The principles can be applied elsewhere in life.

I guess I should know from experience, but success is preceded by persistence. The greater the persistence, the greater the success and the amount of persistence required is directly related to your standard of success. Great success requires great persistence. That's not something they teach in North America anymore.

Well, that success came this week. I finally captured an image that made it all worthwhile. I still feel that it's a combination of luck and equipment, but persistence did have something to do with it. I haven't arrived yet, but I don't need to - I just need something to tell me I'm getting closer to my goal. This is it - this is the one: