Wednesday, July 14, 1999

Discouraged?

You’ve been focused. You’ve been disciplined. You’ve made the effort, day after day, month after month, year after year. You’ve given your best, then gone back and given some more.

And yet, you’re still not there. Some days the goal seems closer, other days the goal seems farther away than ever. How do you keep going? Indeed, why should you keep going?

Because much of the value of your goal is not in the attainment, but in the pursuit. Certainly the attainment is important. Yet if the end result could be had without the effort, of what value would it be? You’re striving toward a goal. Results certainly count. Still, you’ve already reaped many of the benefits even though the desired result is not yet within reach.

Do you want to continue learning, growing, gaining strength and enjoying the positive benefits of your focused, disciplined actions? Or do you want to give up after already investing so much? That’s your choice, but either way, you’re ahead of where you started. And when you continue on your sure and determined path, doing whatever it takes, you will eventually reach the desired destination. Keep going, not so much because of where you’ll end up, but because of what you’ll make of yourself in the process.

— Ralph Marston

Blame       Acquired taste

Copyright ©1999 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.