Don't live a "what if" life.

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

"I would rather fail one thousand times before I ever have to look in the mirror and say 'what if'."

-Tyler Nelson

 

Looking back at times in my life when I have failed, it hurts, but from those failures I grew.  When I look back at times in my life when I never tried... well, I guess I'll never know, and that hurts a lot more than failure ever will.  With failure comes an opportunity to rise up, to learn, to become more.  If we never try, we are only left with a nagging feeling as we wonder what we could have done, what we could have become.  When given that opportunity... try.  Best of luck, my friends.

Short term gratification or long term sucess.

Repost "Do you want it bad enough?"

I posted this several months ago and just the other day ran across it again.  I had to repost it.  Enjoy!

There was a Young Man who wanted to make a lot of money and so he went to an Old Guru and said, "I want to be on the same level you are."

So the Guru says, "If you want to be on the same level I am, I'll meet you at the beach tomorrow morning. 4 AM."

The Young Man looking confused says, "The beach?? I don't wanna swim, I wanna make money!"

"4 AM."

 The Young Man gets to the beach at 4 AM, all ready to rock and roll, wearing a suit - should have wore shorts -  and the Old Guru walks up to great him and grabs his hand. He asks, "How bad do you want to be successful?"

The Young Man excited states, "Real bad!"

"Then walk out into the water."

So the Young Mann starts walking out into the water. About waist deep he starts thinking to himself 'This man must be crazy!', but he continues to walks out. "Hey I wanna make money and you got me out here swimming. I didn't ask to be a lifeguard. I wanna make money!"

The Guru looks at him and says, "Come out a little farther."

The Young Man walks out a little farther. The water is up to his throat. Now he's thinking 'This man is crazy, I mean -  he's makin' money, but he's crazy!', but he keeps walking out. The water is up to his mouth now and his mind is racing 'I'm about to go back in, this guy is out of his mind!', and he turns around.

The Old Guru yells to him and says, "I thought you wanted to be successful?"

"I do," says the Young Man.

"Then walk a little further."

So the Young Man starts to walk out a little farther and the Old Guru grabs his head and puts it under the water. He holds him down and I mean he has him held down. The Young Man is scratching and clawing at him. The Old Guru keeps holding him down. Holding him down. Then right as the Young Man is about to pass out, gently the Old Guru raises him up. The Guru looks at him and says, "I got a question for you... when you were under water, what did you want?"

"I wanted to breathe."

"Now when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful." And with that the Old Guru released the Young Man and began walking to shore.

 

Such a simple concept but so powerful.  So many times in my life, I thought I wanted something... but I didn't really want it, I just thought I did.  Looking back I can understand that because things would come up: friends would call, I would get tired, I would get lazy.  When things came up, the thing that I thought I wanted most now became second.  We have to evaluate ourselves and ask ourselves how bad we really want it!  Then after verbally answering the question, go prove it to yourself!

It's your choice.