I geared up as best I could, knowing it was a waste of time. I might as well have gone naked for all the good my preparations did me. If it hadn't been for the risk of being arrested, or worse, laughed at, I might have. Men look in the mirror at their time and fast food ravaged bodies and see Adonis, but I had just enough self-awareness to realize that others might not share the view. Besides, naked people have nowhere to carry their paper towels.
Persistence is a form of mental illness.
I went out in the rain for several years without getting anything except wet. I was underwater birding along the Susquehanna River in Maryland, one of my favorite spots. It was obvious that I needed to get out in bad weather, so I went and I returned each time soaked and miserable and without having seen anything. Being persistent, and not having sought treatment for it, I kept going. Persistence trumps talent every time.