Victory—I love that word. And I love success, accomplishment, and achievement.

The only problem with experiencing these words—at least in a truly heroic endeavor—is that it takes so long to attain. We want success today. We want achievement now. We want victory without sacrifice and accomplishment without effort.

All of us would thrill to return to a hero’s welcome. But few of us are willing to fight in the trenches and to endure the grueling days of a soldier’s life.

Veterans remind us that that there are no shortcuts to success; that victory really does require blood, sweat, and tears; and that we must bleed, sweat, and cry to the point of victory—even if that point is further than we believed when we started.

We salute our veterans for the lesson their lives proclaim: If we love victory, we must embrace perseverance.

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ….And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.—2 Timothy 2:3, Galatians 6:9