August 25

  

Today's Quotation:

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

Seneca

Today's Meditation:

Have you ever balked at doing something that you knew you should do because you were afraid that it might prove to be too hard or take far longer than the effort was really worth?  I remember once seeing someone in the Army argue with a supervisor that digging a couple of vehicles out of the snow would be far too difficult, an almost impossible task.  When we went out to do it, though, we were done in half an hour.

Often, our brains go very far in analyzing a job or a task, and we find ourselves afraid to take on the task because we might fail in doing so.  We might end up not completing it, or it may be just too hard to do at all, so we give up before we even give ourselves the chance to try.  It's a very self-defeating way to go through life, and it doesn't often give us the opportunity to shine or to accomplish things that might make us feel better about ourselves.

I wouldn't want to go and tackle Mt. Everest without first spending a lot of time preparing, of course, but even that task wouldn't be as difficult as most people make it out to be-- it would take much preparation and a strong focus on doing it, but I would definitely see it as possible (though my fear of heights may interfere with my efforts!).  Many people already have proved that it is possible, so it must be so.  With the right attitude and the right preparation, almost anyone could do it, as long as they're accompanied by the experts they would need.

Sometimes just going out there and doing something, no matter what we think the outcome may turn out to be, is the best thing we can do.  There are times when it's completely unimportant whether we "succeed" or not; rather, the important thing is that we've made the effort and learned the lessons that the effort had in store for us.

We can make things more difficult than they are, or we can just do our best to accomplish what we feel we need to accomplish.  It really is our choice to approach things in the ways that we do.

Questions to ponder:

1.  How can we make things more difficult than they really are?

2.  How do we affect ourselves when we avoid tasks because they may be too difficult for us to succeed at?

3.  How can we help ourselves by taking on tasks that seem to be very difficult?

For further thought:

What is more mortifying than to feel that you have missed the plum for want of courage to shake the tree?

Logan Pearsall Smith

more thoughts and ideas on adversity

  

   

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