You must listen to this music WHILE reading this post.
That being played, think of the old time great stories. Stories that make an impression on even small children who aren't "in the know" about how utterly cruel the world can be.
Remember the stories that showed someone beaten, bruised, down and out...but they continued to fight on...
I think of this scene from Invincible...the one with mark Wahlberg...great great movie...anyways, he comes home to find his home emptied and his wife left leaving a nasty note saying:
this preys on our deepest, most intimate most terrifying fear...failure. It causes doubt and depression, a downward spiral that can kill.
Vince taped this a note to the inside of his locker as he tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles team under new head coach Dick Vermeil...anyways, he makes the team and uses that as motivation.
I think on my own situation. First ever in my immediate family in college. First ever in my immediate family to leave the blue collar world, first to pursue a M.S. publication and will be the first in my ENTIRE family to become a PhD, Doctor. I remind myself daily, that the main difference between total success and complete and utter failure is typically the depth of our commitment.
That doesn't mean that if you're committed that all your dreams will come true, not in the least. I want a son, badly. I want to try my hand at raising a son better than my father did, he did not do bad, but I definitely learned what I'll never do. I want that little person in the world to whom I mean everything fro security to confidence and back to security again. BUT, I want my PhD more as of this moment.
I don't want my PhD to gloat over my friends.
I don't want my PhD to prove to my parents my worth.
I don't want my PhD to force others to respect my title.
I want my PhD because I believe success is not a result of being the best, but being the best you have it in you to become. I believe I can achieve that highest level of education in my field. Once upon a time it was troublesome that my friends were MD, Doctors...but that doesn't bother me anymore. That might be their best and I know fully without doubt I could be an MD and be an extremely food medical doctor. I choose to teach, to theorize and hypothesize about more advanced possibilities than the memorization of fact.
In short, I want to be the bet that I can possibly be.
That said, tough times test us. Mercilessly, brutally and "torturously". It challenges us mentally, causing us to doubt ourselves. It beats us down until all that is left is our most indomitable quality. It is times like those when we see who and what we truly are. Not things of entertainment and laughter, nor of sorrow and sadness but of incomprehensible strength of will with a desire to conquer. A desire to hope. A desire to achieve.
Not in the I dictate my eternity aspect but in the I dictate how I respond to any given situation. I respond in the manner I've taught myself to respond in. if you are a pessimist you much reinforce positive thinking, I do this by memory and searching for quotes of highly influential and successful coaches.
Find something you love and pursue it with every fiber of your being. Allow that desire to fill you up and become part of what makes you who you are. There is no shame in falling short of a goal, only in giving less than your absolute best.
Everyone will suffer from one of two pains:
The pain of discipline weighs in blood and tears.
The pain of regret regret weighs in wasted years.
Success is not a destination, but a direction. one in which we must travel constantly, never stalling never content but a constant motion towards that never reachable goal. Never reachable, yet already acquired. To move in the direction of success, is to already have succeeded.
In the words of the GREAT Charlie Sheen "I’m done with ‘the winning’ because I’ve already won.”
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