According to WikiAnswers, an average moderately active person takes about 7,500 steps a day. Assuming that the person walks everyday starting from the age of one till the age of eighty, he/she would have taken more than 200 million steps in his/her lifetime. Who would have thought?
We started walking intuitively and probably from seeing our parents and other adults doing it; we imitated them. We fell and we picked ourselves up repetitively and fearlessly. Pretty soon we were walking steadily and the daring ones were already running. Through sheer hard work and encouragement, we had not only mastered the art of walking but also doing it with ease. Had we ever questioned the hard work we put into learning to walk?
Are there something which you are hoping to do well? I have an interesting news for you. With hard work and I mean a lot of hard work, you can achieve excellent in what you hope to do well. And not just hard work, “But work of a particular type that’s demanding and painful,” according to a report by CNN on the Secret of Greatness.
“I do not have the innate gifts to be successful.” From the above mentioned report, British-based researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda conclude in an extensive study, “The evidence we have surveyed … does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts.” The first major conclusion is that nobody is great without work.
A lot of people are working hard and yet not many are achieving excellent results. Where did it go wrong? The biggest challenge is that most people are just blindly charging ahead. A friend of mine shared his Cycle of Excellence with me a few years back. It is a simple feedback system he uses for his students so that they can constantly monitor their own results through feedbacks. Through the system, the students can pin-point what produces positive results and do more of that.
Besides monitoring which of our hard work produces positive result, a paper published by professor K. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University and two colleagues in 1993 notes, “Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends.” Thus, we also need to put in consistent hard work.
Many would have spent the weekend otherwise. Not many are willing to go the extra miles and that is why not many can achieve greatness. At least we know now that achieving greatness is not only for the privilege few but available for you and I.
“What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.” – Samuel Johnson
This is specially dedicated to anyone who has lost a pet. I couldn’t lie to say that I understood what you had gone through since I did not own and lost any pet before. But I sincerely hope that you can find the strength to move on from the words and song. And one day, you will be reunited with your pets at the Rainbow Bridge.
The Rainbow Bridge Poem
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them; who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent; the eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to break away from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. YOU have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Do you know now that I must be going
To a place full of happy memories
In an emerald meadow by a Rainbow Bridge
You can hear heaven’s anthem on the breeze
Well, a heavenly light falls around me
In a twinkling my youth has been restored
Over green hills and valleys once again I roam free
Like the days when on eagle’s wing we soared
I’m surrounded by many companions
And together we pass our pleasant days
Every need is provided, there is nothing I lack
Save for you to whose memory my heart strays
When you’re heaven-bound
There’s a place you pass through
Called the Rainbow Bridge,
I’ll be waiting there for you
Yes, I’ll be waiting for you
With a heart that’s tried and true
Till the day I can feel , once again,
Your arms around me
Fare thee well now for I must be going
Dry your tears, no you must not cry for me
Till the day that we meet again at long journey’s end
At the Rainbow Bridge,
You know that’s where I’ll be
If you came from Entrecard, you would have realised that the Entrecard’s widget was removed from this site. It is time to bid farewell and to move on. Let us reach higher!
Reach written by Diane Eve Warren, Gloria Estefan
Some dreams live on in time, forever
Those dreams, you want with all your heart
And I’ll do whatever it takes
Follow through with the promise I made
Put it all on the line
What I hoped for at last would be mine
If I could reach, higher
Just for one moment touch the sky
From that one moment in my life
I’m gonna be stronger
Know that I’ve tried my very best
Put my spirit to the test
If I could reach
Some days are meant to be remembered
Those days we rise above the stars
So I’ll go the distance this time
Seeing more the higher I climb
That the more I believe
All the more that this dream will be mine
If I could reach, higher
Just for one moment touch the sky
From that one moment in my life
I’m gonna be stronger
Know that I’ve tried my very best
I’d put my spirit to the test
If I could reach
If I could reach, higher
Just for one moment touch the sky
From that one moment in my life
I’m gonna be stronger
I’m gonna be so much stronger yes I am
I’ve tried my very best
I’d put my spirit to the test
If I could reach
If I could, If I could
If I could reach
Reach, I’d reach, I’d reach
I’d reach’, I’d reach so much higher
Be stronger, higher, higher
Some time ago, I was giving a training on personal leadership to a class of secondary students when I came across a story of a 10 year old boy. Although this is not a true story, I think it is a worthy story to share with you.
Everyone has strength and weakness. Just when you are thinking that something may be your weakness, think twice. Sometimes your weakness may turn out to be your greatest strength, just as in this case.
——————————— The story of one 10 year old boy who decided to study Judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began his lessons with an old Japanese Judo Master. As the boy was doing well in his lessons, he could not understand why after three months of training and his master had taught him only one move.
“Sensei,” the boy finally asked. “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”
“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know.” the Sensei replied.
Not quite understanding what the Sensei meant, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept on training.
Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be over-matched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the Sensei intervened.
“No.” the Sensei insisted. “Let him continue.”
Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him down. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.
On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.
“Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”
“You won for two reasons,” the Sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of Judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
—————————————
Had there been any situation where you thought something was your weakness but it turned out to be your strength? Do share with us your experience on how you had turned a weakness into your strength.
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According to WikiAnswers, an average moderately active person takes about 7,500 steps a day. Assuming that the person walks everyday starting from the age of one till the age of eighty, he/she would have taken more than 200 million steps in his/her lifetime. Who would have thought?
This is specially dedicated to anyone who has lost a pet. I couldn’t lie to say that I understood what you had gone through since I did not own and lost any pet before. But I sincerely hope that you can find the strength to move on from the words and song. And one day, you will be reunited with your pets at the Rainbow Bridge.
