Although you may not be totally familiar with the geography of part of Maritime Canada, particularly with the absence of a permanent link between Prince Edward Island and the Province of New Brunswick, the thought of linking these two provinces permanently was only a dream. 

The transportation link between these two provinces was either by ship or, in more modern times, by ferry. 

In order to link these two provinces permanently meant that many technological obstacles had to be overcome, but perseverance, the vision of a permanent link, paid off. 

The permanent linking was accomplished by designing and then building a unique bridge. The project began in 1993, and the 12.9-kilometer (approx. 14 miles) Confederation Bridge officially opened on May 31, 1997. 

Forming an integral part of the Trans Canada network, the Confederation Bridge is the longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the world. Many obstacles had to be overcome including the tremendous pressure from ice along its pylons during the winter and the spring thaw. 

The key to the success of building this unique bridge over a period of four years was perseverance. 

No matter the task, perseverance is the ability to keep going in spite of obstacles and challenges. Perseverance is the realization that challenges along the way are only minor detours on the march to success. 

Perseverance is not just about building bridges. It is all about one's world and everything that comes and goes. Every one has a possession that no one can take away from you and that is your very own attitude to accomplish what is needed. For those who doubt their own ability, sometimes it is worthy to remind them that they all have experienced perseverance and all it means as a child. 

Take for example the perseverance needed to be able to walk. To be able to walk as a child did not take place from the first attempt, or from the second or even the third. It took time after time of getting up on one's little feet only to fall back down. Did this stop you from getting up again? No, it did not. 

There are even more examples of your ability to persevere all through your childhood and teen age years so what happens to adults that seems to dissuade them from keeping this same workable and necessary attitude and behavior in later years? 

Sometimes. We are conditioned by our upbringing either through observing the attitudes of our parents or from our peers. Some of this conditioning occurs through the subconscious level and is assimilated without us even recognizing that we have adopted a new attitude and therefore a new behavior. 

If we see and observe other individuals that are around us say that they cannot do something or learn something or that they tried and failed and simply gave up, we tend to think that this is a normal behavior.

 

The absolute worse thing to adopt is an attitude of defeatism that simply says that you are not capable of exacting perseverance to accomplish what is necessary and bow to the pessimistic attitudes of others who fail and quit. 

Failure is the best teacher but only if you know that failure leads to success and success is accomplished through perseverance and dedication. 

We know that you have had personal experience with perseverance as demonstrated when you where a young child so rekindle that knowledge and attitude and set sail for a new horizon. 

"Our energy is in proportion to the resistance it meets. We attempt nothing great but from a sense of the difficulties we have to encounter, we persevere in nothing great but from a pride in overcoming them." ~ William Hazlitt