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Tuesday, May 04, 2010Start From Where You Are
Have you ever heard this phrase before - "Life is hard especially when you are poor."
Being poor is not an excuse why you cannot be somebody someday.
Here are some people who made their fortunes against all odds.
Oprah Winfrey, the media maven has spent her early years living in poverty on her grandmother's farm.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple who also created the iPod sensation was adopted by a working class family. He dropped out of college because he couldn't pay the tuition.
Chris Gardner, the real man behind the movie "In Pursuit of Happiness" grew up without knowing his real father. His mother married a man who completely ruined his and his mother's life.
John Gokongwei, a Chinese-Filipino taipan who owns Cebu Pacific Airlines and Robinsons Galleria Malls to name a few lost all their wealth when his father died at his age of 13.
All of them have one thing in common.
They all started from nothing.
For many of us, we probably started better than these individuals. But why are they more successful than anyone of us? Is it all about luck?
I have read their biographies and I found out that regardless of the challenges they faced, they were persistent. They did not quit. They started from where they are.
In Hebrews 12:1 we read: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
Today, as we look at their achievements, I doubt if anyone of them would want to change any challenges that they have to endure in the past.
In one of the speech by John Gokongwei, he said, "Looking back, I wonder, what would have happened if my father had not left my family with nothing? Would I have become the man I am? Who knows? The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the best we can. And we can play to win!"
Persistent people embark on their success when others quit.
So, wherever you are right now, I believe that that is how God wants you to start.
Our direction - start with what we have and not with what we do not have.
As you travel your path to achieve your goals and dreams in life, never worry about how much money, ability or tools you are starting with; just begin with a truck load of determination.
I have always believed in the saying - "It's not what you have, it's what you do with what you have that makes all the difference."
Consider this; David did not defeat Goliath with a 50 calibre machine gun with a matching bazooka and M1 Abrams tank. He defeated Goliath using a sling shot! He used what he had.
Shamgar in Judges 3:31, one of the most underrated heroes in the bible. He defeated 600 Philistines using an ox goad. Just in case you don't know what an ox goad is, it's like a spear but it's not. It's a tool used by farmers to goad the ox. He used what he had.
Life is what you make of it.
Utilize what you have and not with what you don't have. Start from where you are and with what you have.
I am a kind of person who expresses my feelings through the words I speak. But in writing, nah... I always considered myself poor in grammar or in English for that matter.
In college, I failed in English... twice.
Since I started writing my blogs, gifts started to manifest one by one. A month ago, when I was writing a speech for the graduating class of my high school, I suddenly remembered during my junior year, I was asked to compete to a news writing contest.
At that time, I questioned myself, who in the world would ask a happy-go-lucky person like me to join a writing contest to represent our school? That person was our head teacher and principal. I did not know what she saw in me to ask me to join such competition, but what can I do? She was our head teacher and I have to obey.
Can you guess what happened? With more than a hundred students, I won in two categories.
Opportunity is always where you are and never where you were. Although I know it's going to be a shot in the air but I took action by taking the challenge. I said to myself, "I won't know what I can do until I try."
Unfortunately for me, I neglected that gift because I always thought that writing was not for me. So I tried something doing what I thought I could do - a deejay and computer programmer.
I'm glad that God's gift for us is forever. Romans 11:29 says, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." It's sad because our God given gifts and calling are one of the most ignored areas in our lives. It's a total waste when we don't use it. In tagalog, "Sayang!"
Today, I have chosen to do something with it and I will start with whatever I have.
I found out that the more I use it, the greater and more valuable it becomes.
The problem why we cannot accomplish anything in our life is we wait for something great to happen first before we do something great.
The Lord wants us to do the opposite. Do something with whatever you have and something great will happen.
God is the greatest!
Posted By: Allen Espejo @ 2:17:24 AM
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