Those small epiphanies...

[alexpgp]

I have been the subject, of late, of a seeming barrage of wild and crazy statements, some of which represent a 180-degree turnaround of conventional "wisdom." Herewith, two such items:

Belief

One of the several houses of worship down the street has, on its street sign, words to the effect that there are some things in the world that must be "believed in order to be seen." They, of course, are talking about some key aspect or other of their religion, and are encouraging the passerby to have faith. For sure, their formulation turns on its ear the old saw about having to see something in order to believe it.

Believing in something after you see it is easy. That's why nobody doubts the ability of airplanes to fly. On a personal level, it's why few doubt their ability to buy a hamburger, or rent an apartment, or go on vacation; so many people you know have done these things, you know they are accessible to you, too.

But believing in something before you see it...well, that takes guts. But it is sometimes essential if some goal is to be achieved.

More on this later.

Action

One of the mottoes made memorable during my three-month, all-expenses-paid sojourn off the coast of South Carolina (i.e., boot camp on Parris Island) was "when the going gets tough, the tough get going!"

Makes sense, right? Now turn it around: When the tough get going, the going gets tough.

I found that scribbled along the edge of a page of notes I took some time ago; I don't remember when or where. With no disrespect intended for those who, facing adversity, find that they have an untapped reserve of toughness that helps them weather that adversity, after musing on it a while, I now think that the "backward" version of this cliché is the real McCoy.

Why? Because goals are not easy to achieve (nor should they be). Want to be physically fit? You have to exercise. Want to buy a new car (and avoid murderous finance charges)? You have to save. In each case, your life becomes a bit more difficult, and the going gets a little "tougher." And the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles that must be overcome.

I need to chew on these further; the fog is beginning to lift.

Cheers...

Comments

[bsgi.livejournal.com]

WOrds to ponder...paticularly the last tough one. However, here is something to think about...to believe in something unseen and unexperienced, instead of guts, one may only need a lot of fear.

Thanks for making us think.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

I have taken the liberty of responding to your comment with a post of my own. Your comment was quite thought-provoking.

Cheers...

Re:

[bsgi.livejournal.com]

As was your response. I had to dig back to the long lost college years for that one. Thanks.

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

Believing in something before you see it is the essense of the creative process. That may be why many people can't make the creative leap.

My management guru, Peter Drucker, once said that "The trouble with good ideas is they quickly degenerate into hard work." I think Edison said something along the same lines.

I think it's a lot more fun having good ideas than doing the hard work, which puts me square in the middle of the pack, I think ;)

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

Would that good ideas only had to overcome hard work! Hard work is easy. Most ideas, and many goals have to overcome ridicule and criticism, and those obstacles are most formidable.

You have a point, however.

Cheers...

[adriennerad.livejournal.com]

Interesting....I think "when the tough get going, the going gets tough" might have some validity to it.

Enjoying your thoughts.....

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the common formulation is...well...not very helpful. (Does that make sense?)

Thanks for the kind words.

Cheers...