Purpose and Perseverance Podcast

"By your perseverance, you will secure your lives." Luke 21:19 Conversations ordered to understanding our purpose, living well, and persevering in mind, body, and soul. AMDG

Purpose and Perseverance Podcast is a health podcast hosted by Deacon Brad Watkins, with 64 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Deacon Brad Watkins hosts Purpose and Perseverance Podcast, a health show with 64 episodes published.

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  Episode #65

  #65 Unable

  Aug 16, 202630 minS2

  A day walking the hills and stairs of VMI during Matriculation got me thinking about a lesson a PE professor taught me nearly forty years ago: fitness isn't just about what we look like or what we can do in the gym. It's about what we are capable of doing when circumstances demand something from us. In this episode, I explore the progression from unable to able to capable to dependable , and what it means to prepare ourselves physically and practically so that when life places demands on us, we aren't merely able to take care of ourselves - we are capable of helping, and dependable enough that others can count on us.

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  Episode #64

  #64 The Storm Didn't Stop

  Aug 9, 202617 minS2

  Many years ago, during a silent retreat at Mepkin Abbey, I spent an early morning praying with Matthew's account of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Sitting alone in the monastery refectory before sunrise, with a Bible and a bottomless cup of coffee, I encountered that familiar Gospel in a way that has stayed with me for decades. Listening to the same passage again this Sunday, I heard something new in it - a remarkable lesson about purpose and perseverance. Peter actually walks on water while his eyes are fixed on Jesus. The storm is already raging. The wind is blowing. The waves are there. None of that changes. What changes is Peter's attention. In this episode, I reflect on what Peter's experience can teach us about remaining focused on our purpose when circumstances are beyond our control, how it connects to last week's episode, "Expect Nothing," and why perseverance doesn't mean never sinking. Sometimes perseverance looks like walking on water. Sometimes it looks like crying out, "Lord, save me," taking the hand Christ extends to us, and beginning again.

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  Episode #63

  #63 Expect Nothing

  Aug 2, 202652 minS2

  What if many of our frustrations and disappointments have less to do with God's will than with our own expectations? In this episode, I explore the difference between expectations and aspirations, and why that distinction has become increasingly important in my own life. Along the way, I reflect on Marcus Aurelius, Carol Dweck's concept of the "growth mindset," Pope St. John XXIII, and St. Alphonsus Liguori's Uniformity with God's Will . I also share stories from former students whose lives unfolded in ways neither of them expected, yet ultimately revealed a better path than they could have imagined. Together, these insights point toward a simple but challenging idea: aspire greatly, work diligently, and pray boldly, but hold your own timetable loosely enough that God remains free to surprise you. Perhaps real peace is found not in seeing our plans fulfilled, but in trusting the One who writes a better story than we could ever write ourselves.

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  Episode #62

  #62 Out of Joy: What If Excellence Looks Ordinary?

  Jul 26, 202648 minS2

  I'm pretty excited about this one. I wouldn't usually say this, but I think this might be one of the more important episodes I've recorded so far. Modern culture tells us that joy comes after achievement. St. Francis of Assisi, elite ultramarathoner Courtney Dauwalter, and even today's Gospel suggest something entirely different. In this episode, I explore the surprising relationship between joy, excellence, and the ordinary duties that make up most of our lives. Along the way, I reflect on the work of three authors - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Jim Murphy, and Brad Stulberg - the remarkable Triple Crown of Courtney Dauwalter, one of St. Francis' most famous stories, and the hidden life of Christ at Nazareth. Then I propose that picking up sticks after a storm, folding laundry, preparing lessons, raising children, and faithfully doing the next right thing may be far closer to excellence than we ever imagined. If you've ever wondered whether your ordinary life really matters, this episode could be for you.

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  Episode #61

  #61 What a Week at the Beach Reminded Me

  Jul 19, 202635 minS2

  After a week in the Outer Banks, I came home with four reflections: slowing down, the restorative power of nature, why health is really about freedom, and why a good vacation renews our desire to return to the work and people we love. In this episode, I explore how the environments we choose quietly shape our bodies and souls—and why the ordinary life, lived intentionally, is often the good life.

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