A Determined Soul

“A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop.”_Robert Hughes

While in college, I learned an essential lesson from one of my unpretentious schoolmates. He was one of a kind who managed to come out on top of his class despite the odds. 

He was from a humble background and had to hustle a great deal to make ends meet. In addition, he was relatively slow to grasp complex concepts taught in his class. 

To catch up, he would often attend tutorials after class with the help of his brilliant classmates. Sometimes, one might feel for him and wonder if he was really going to make it through to the end.

However, to everybody’s surprise, he graduated summa cum laude, being one of the top five students in his department; he was far ahead of many seemingly smart ones.

Doing What We Can with What We Have

A remarkable result of this nature can serve to correct our assumption on what we sometimes think is necessary to win in any challenging endeavour. 

I think what is truly required to win is not what many of us choose to focus on, a lot of the times. After reading this article, you will understand what I mean.

For starter, think over the narrative above: some students in his position would probably feel sorry for themselves for not having a sponsor to cater for their needs. 

And some others might even blame fate for not being as quick-witted as the apparently smart ones in his class. Neither of which is really helpful for the self-esteem necessary to win a gold medal in any game.

However, my guy was not such a person. He was different: a truly determined soul was he; the kind of person who takes full responsibility for their outcome, no matter the situation.

You see, it takes a special form of courage to own one’s situation by not letting what one cannot do interfere with what one can still do. Such is the courage displayed by every determined soul: the courage to gratefully convert personal disadvantages into an advantage.   

Most people think greatness comes from having the most desirable situation possible, but they are missing the point. I guess you will agree that it’s easier to waste time dreaming about perfection than to make the most of an undesirable situation. 

It’s easier to think you need to be able to buy all your books by yourself than to decide to befriend the school library because you can’t afford the books on your own.

Think about this…

Even if having a sponsor would have given the guy a huge competitive advantage, he achieved the highest possible class without one because he decided to rely fully on himself. 

Even if having a quicker wit would have made him a star from the start, he ended up with magna-cum-laude without one because he decided to show up every day for deliberate study and practice.

Even if being the most naturally gifted person would have given him a unique privilege in his class, he achieved exceptional success without one because he understood the power of committing to the ordinary.

As you can see, in most cases, what we think is our hindrance is really not so. We don’t need a perfect situation for greatness or for happiness. Our main obstacle is our wrong assumption and misguided thinking. 

The solution here is to adopt the mindset of a truly determined soul; someone who has learned to focus and act upon what matters most, in any kind of situation. 

Don’t be trapped in your past or be deluded by your future. Instead live fully in the present moment by displaying a great sense of gratitude and responsibility.

In a nutshell, never let what you don’t have hinder you from doing what you can do today—and every day that follows.