“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.
