In today’s perpetual crises like state, many people find themselves overwhelmed and struggling to face the challenges of the world. It seems every step one takes, a situation or someone else comes along and pushes them further back. In addition, the vast majority of the people in the world spend their time judging or criticizing others’ differences and forcing others to conform to the way they ‘should’ think or behave. Most people think that a nonconformist is someone who poses threats or trouble. Contrary to their thinking, the nonconformist is a maverick or out-of-the-box thinker that has free spirit and will not allow humankind to go against the “laws of nature.” According to the most influential thinker and motivational speaker, the late Jim Rohn:
“Success lies in the opposite direction of the normal pull.”
Successful people work out where 95% of people are going and go in the opposite direction. They stand up for what they believe in and their self-determination is constantly monitored as this entity is a building factor of character strength to stand tall or protest against injustice.
People all around the world strive success and failure. There may be times when you try to achieve success but fail. When the outcome is a positive one, we feel happy and contented because our efforts pay fruits when we need them the most. On the other hand, sometimes our effort does not provide us with success and the result is that we face awkward situations and feel frustrated.
In actuality, failure is the key to success. Failure may cause disappointment and sometimes collapse, yet the breakdowns are only challenges that one must accept, face, and move to take action to take back control of his or her life. Thomas Edison (the inventor of the light bulb), Colonel Saunders (KFC Founder), Fred Smith (FedEx Founder), Tina Turner (Famous singer) have achieved great feats which required great amounts of determination and an ability to handle incredible amounts of failure and rejection.
A man named Nick Vujicic is no stranger to having great determination. Born with the rare Tetra-amelia disorder: limbless, missing both arms at shoulder level, and legless but with two small feet, one of which has two toes. Nick’s was able to overcome great difficulties and hardships in life such as overcoming being prohibited by law from attending a mainstream school due to his disability, dealing with constant school bullying, overcoming extreme depression which almost lead to a suicide attempt. Nick was eventually able to realize that his accomplishments were inspirational to many, and began to be thankful for being alive which was a turning point in his life. At seventeen he started to give talks and eventually started his non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs. Nick now travels as a motivational speaker, focusing on the topics that today’s teenagers face. He has spoken to over two million people of all walks of life, in twelve countries on four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America).
We should never underestimate ourselves and no matter what obstacles one may come up against, realizing that these obstacles are only challenges or opportunities for us to continue growing. If you let the obstacles get in the way of your progress, negative thinking, negative behaviors, and a negative attitude will creep in. Negative attitude shortens your life as people with bad attitudes often end up on the downwards spiral of life.
One must keep their self-determination strong and as Tommy Lasorda, a baseball great and an Olympic US team coach, has said:
The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.
Cartoon by Bob Moran
