Take my music, for instance. I’ve played the guitar quite seriously since I was in high school. In the past decade and a half, I ventured into composing songs and even released a solo, original album. Having done that without much success, the idea of a second album did not seem to make any sense. The first one obviously crashed into the terminal station.
The question is: Does eliminating a dead end mean stopping altogether in one particular pursuit? Should I quit now? Or does that mean, I should remove the obstacles that prevent me from proceeding with a worthwhile pursuit? If something occupies your mind all day long and you can’t get enough of its appeal, then to give it up would mean giving part of your being, of your very soul and life. It would be suicide.
Yes, the advice seems valid and compelling but a difficult one to understand and even more difficult to follow. One dead end in life doesn’t make a total failure of a person just as one failed exam doesn’t mean a failing final grade. “Dead ends”, as they seem to connote, are those that you continually encounter and which have the irritable habit of making you feel stupid or incompetent. It is when you persevere in something that you know will not produce the desired result you want that leads to a dead end. Like smoking, which you feel you need to do; but you wished you could give up.
Hence, dead ends refer to those patterns of thinking and tendencies in our behavior that lead us to work against our own welfare. We know pornography corrupts the mind and the spirit and yet many of us fall prey to its venomous appeal. We know gossiping can destroy relationships but we become victims of its frivolous entertainment.
When we encounter a dead end, the only way out is to turn around and retrace our steps. Easy enough, but we waste precious time doing that. But that is how we learn. In Math, we call a dead end a wrong answer. In sports, we call it half-hearted playing. In marriage, we call it the absence of love and forgiveness. Going the other way always gives us a better view of where we came from. Wisdom and experience allow us to see with sharp eyes and even sharper minds to know where a certain road will eventually lead.
Eliminating dead ends then simply requires charting our course toward a certain future, one that may be novel, unfamiliar or untrodden, but if viewed with a clear vision of life will lead to success. For anything that enhances or multiplies the value of life is one path worth pursuing. Be it singing, planting, selling, nursing or teaching, if an abundant life is the end-product as well as the by-product, then we must have that.
Wonder why there is no such thing as a living end? It is because life never ends.
2 comments:
Vince, I’m sure as toddlers we stumbled a few times when we were first learning to walk, fell flat on our face, even bumped our head in the process. Inspite of these setbacks however, with our innocent minds we didn’t know enough to quit. All for the best though – if we had the slightest thought of giving up then, we might still be crawling on the floor to this day.
I recall that even T. Edison tried thousands of times before achieving success with the light bulb. Which reminds me of a short note I wrote to my daughter on her 18th birthday, an excerpt of which is below:
“I am confident that you will succeed in whatever you do. Although people measure success in many different ways, they attain it in some similar fashion: through hard work sustained with a deep sense of purpose and desire. Therefore always do your best, but also accept the reality that sometimes even your finest efforts will fall short. But don’t be afraid to fail: remember that those who don’t make mistakes are those who never try. And that one who doesn’t know bitter taste cannot appreciate sweetness.”
When my nephew became disheartened after failing his licensure exams a few times, I told him it doesn’t matter as long as he passes. I myself did it on my fourth try. Also told him about Edison, though I wished he wouldn’t go that far! Never quit!
Very well said! Thanks for the feedback.
Post a Comment