Stamina: The Key to Success

The other day, I was driving in my car humming and bopping along to the song The Greatest Alive by Sia. As I sat at a red light, one word stuck out to me: stamina. Oh-oh, I got stamina, oh-oh, I got stamina.  Don’t give up, won’t give up, no no no.

Until that moment, it was just another pop song on the radio to me, but I then realized the empowering message behind it.  I already liked Sia, but I gained more respect for her that day.

She first intrigued me with her appearances in face-covering wigs.  What was the deal with that? So, I read up on her.  She started her career in Australia in the mid-nineties, so she’s been in the business for quite some time.  She was a part of several pop groups, with varied success, in Australia and London before moving to the states.  The most notable success from these ventures was with the British group Zero 7.  However, she wasn’t realizing her dream of being a solo artist, so she eventually left them.  As she waited for her big break in the U.S., she wrote songs for other pop stars (Celine Dion, Rhianna, Ne-Yo, Britney Spears) and released her own albums. There was a point when her career was almost dead, but it was revived when her song Breathe Me was used in an episode of HBO’s Six Feet Under.  Finally, in 2014, at age 39, her album 1000 Forms of Fear reached #1 on the charts in U.S. and Australia. 

I don’t think I found out exactly why she wore the face wigs. Maybe she was capitalizing on the performance art aspect of pop made popular by Lady Gaga?   Maybe it gave her an aura of mystery? Whatever the reason, I came away impressed with Sia’s talent and persistence.  Would she have come this far without stamina?

Another favorite line in the song is: I’m free to be the greatest, I’m alive. It reminded me of a sermon by one of my favorite pastors, Charles Stanley, titled: Discipline Determines Destiny.  The idea is this: success, whatever that looks like to us, is up to us.  It’s about the steps we’re willing to take, the obstacles we’re willing to overcome, and how hard we’re willing to work to get there. 

• • Stamina (n): 1) Staying power, endurance 2) The ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort
  • Endurance (n): the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions 

Photo courtesy of pixel2013 via Pixbay

References:

The Greatest Lyric Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Ipeu6Z26g
Sia Biography: http://www.biography.com/people/sia-furler
Songs by Sia: http://stylecaster.com/songs-you-never-knew-were-written-by-sia-furler/