Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Do Not Settle


Once upon a time, before you could even talk, you were filled with grit and determination. You probably don't remember this, but there used to be a time when you would not settle for less than what you wanted. There was time when you were so determined to get something you worked like mad to get it and you would not let any obstacle stop you from your goal. 

What am I talking about? I have seen many babies learn how to crawl, or creep, or slither because something across the room caught their fancy, and they just had to go check it out. They had a mission, a discovery to make, and they actually learned how to move across the floor with extreme effort and determination to get to where they wanted to go. I've also witnessed many parents, myself included, pick up their child, move them back across the room to remove them from where ever it was they were going? The result? Most times the child will just set off on his mission again, undeterred and full of conviction. This used to be you.

There was a time when all of us were once innately filled with determination, grit, and a no-surrender attitude. We were all filled with the secrets of success - unrelenting stubbornness. 

If you ask me, this is proof that we were all meant to succeed, to accomplish great things, to conquer our world. 

What happened to us? Not only have we let ourselves go and become broken physically, we have allowed ourselves to become broken mentally. We were not meant to be quitters! That was never placed in us! We had to learn how to quit because we sure didn't come in this world as a quitter. 

We all need to wake up. We live in a world where a pill is chosen over movement. We live in a world where settling is chosen over conquering. We allow ourselves to let other people tell us how we should think, what we should fear, and how we should feel. We were made for success, not defeat, not surrender. 

Again, here is something we can learn from a child. Children don't wait until tomorrow to get what they want today. Children don't change their minds the first time we tell them "no." Children actually determine themselves into new creative ways to move in order to get what they want. If a child that cannot talk can do these things, so can we. Tomorrow will never, ever come. The word "no" is just a word - it is not a prophecy. Your imagination was given to you so you would use it to create, not so you could lull it to death with mindless chatter from a TV. 

Everything about you was made for success. You were never intended to settle for cholesterol pills or shiny late night informercials. You were never supposed to be filled with thoughts of fear and a bunch of "what ifs."  You were once a conqueror. It is your innate desire to overcome. Don't suffocate what was given to you from your birth. Learn how to fight again. Learn how to crawl across the room again and grab that shiny red ball that keeps begging you to come play with it. 
This world is crazy. We don't need pills. We don't need fad diets. We don't really even need microwaves. And we certainly don't need to quit and give up when things get tough. We are capable of achieving and becoming anything that we set our minds to. Deep inside all of us there lives a "no quit" attitude greater than any negative force this world has to offer. It was given to us the moment we were born. All we have to do is dust it off and exercise it again. We were not meant to settle for less.  

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