Sometimes the most difficult things, the most demanding things, are the best, and cost the most
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty … I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
This quote is so potent in the modern world. Roosevelt wrote it a 100 years ago, but it means so much more in an instant gratification world, a world that largely expects so much for so little, and finds itself angry at the slightest obstacle or impediment to that instant gratification. I don't want to be this way.
The average American (over the age of 12) watches over 1700 HOURS of television annually, which is roughly 30% of all their waking hours. The weekends are the real killers for logging those hours. (Got this from Darren Hardy's book "The Compound Effect). Imagine all the lost possibilities in those TV hours! I don't want to be this way.
The most difficult things are saying no to almost everything, so that you can say yes to the few awesome things, and even that requires you to get up at 2:30 AM after changing six times zones just 30 hours before, and catch another flight out. But the rewards are priceless. It would be all too easy to watch TV and be a couch potato, but the better choice is clear . . . and difficult.
So as I watched the sun rise this morning from 38000 feet in the air, after having been up and awake for three hours already, the terrible beauty of having that difficult opportunity is very humbling, but world-changers choose this life over the easy path. I want to be this way.
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty … I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
This quote is so potent in the modern world. Roosevelt wrote it a 100 years ago, but it means so much more in an instant gratification world, a world that largely expects so much for so little, and finds itself angry at the slightest obstacle or impediment to that instant gratification. I don't want to be this way.
The average American (over the age of 12) watches over 1700 HOURS of television annually, which is roughly 30% of all their waking hours. The weekends are the real killers for logging those hours. (Got this from Darren Hardy's book "The Compound Effect). Imagine all the lost possibilities in those TV hours! I don't want to be this way.
The most difficult things are saying no to almost everything, so that you can say yes to the few awesome things, and even that requires you to get up at 2:30 AM after changing six times zones just 30 hours before, and catch another flight out. But the rewards are priceless. It would be all too easy to watch TV and be a couch potato, but the better choice is clear . . . and difficult.
So as I watched the sun rise this morning from 38000 feet in the air, after having been up and awake for three hours already, the terrible beauty of having that difficult opportunity is very humbling, but world-changers choose this life over the easy path. I want to be this way.
