The two contradictory axioms that used to confuse me greatly were that; there is no limit to what a person can do; and it’s wise for a person to work within his or her potentialities. If you ask me now, I can tell you very cautiously that you will learn more about a road by travelling it rather than consulting all the maps in the world. In life, often when you reach for the stars, you might not quite get one. In fact, sometimes it’s the exact opposite. Failure can be like an arrow shot into the heart of hope and aspiration. It can be frustrating, debilitating and humiliating when something you invest so much upon does not get the desired outcome. Worst still, people around will measure scales on you stating that your result was incommensurate to your labour.
A light hearted survey in our students’ community seems to indicate that we shy away from the lifestyles that would brand us as industrious or studious. Sometimes it’s baffling as to why we came here in the first place. Perhaps we want to be someone who is successful without too much of hard work. In short, a person who got more than what he or she bargained for. Personally, I would not be the ideal specimen to diagnose this ailment, which I myself am afflicted, but an expert would have possibly construed this as a lack of maturity to face life, or an irrational fear aligned with success.
The context reminds me of the commentary on the temptation of Jesus made by a writer of the name Philip Yancey. Looking back on the three temptations of Jesus, we see that Satan proposed an enticing improvement. He tempted Jesus towards the good part of being human without the bad; to savour the taste of bread without being subjected to the fixed rules of hunger and of agriculture; to confront risk with no real danger; to enjoy fame and power without the prospect of painful rejection - in short, to wear a crown but not a cross, the temptation that Jesus resisted, many of us, His followers, still long for today.
Thomas Alva Edition, the great scientist stated, “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. It is also interesting to note that the ratio between hard work and luck is 70:30. Therefore, it would be wise to make hard work a daily habit, instead of lying supinely and waiting for chance to fall in your lap. Our mind is like an acre of land. You have to sow it (with ideas), till it (with readings), fertilize it (with meaningful discussion with counterparts), pesticide it (prevent it from becoming inanimate) to get the best crop of result from it.
May God grant you the wisdom to take all the right turns, on your way!
