The Desire To Improve

Yourself
Have you ever attended an athletic event that was won by
a team far less talented than their opponent? As the contest
progresses, it’s obvious who will win. When the game is over,
the losing team can only lament, “How could this have
happened?”
The answer is simple and can be summed up with a oneword
response. DESIRE! One team wanted it more than the
other. Talent had little to do with the outcome. Desire was the
real driver. The less talented winners refused to believe that the
odds were against them. And, once again, the underdog won.
In the world of sports, this scene is often repeated. It
happens in other arenas as well. In our schools, the student who
is not blessed with great brain power somehow plods along and
moves on to great academic accomplishments. At work, the
seemingly less skilled worker advances through the ranks and
serves as a shining example of what desire can do.
Let’s look at a contrast. Bob Conklin, founder of the
Adventures in Attitude self-improvement program, maintains that
there will always be slums. There will always be slums because
there will always be some number of people who have no desire
to leave that type of environment. They do not have the desire to
rid themselves of this slum shackle, so they remain hopelessly
chained to the walls of despair.
Living in slums and lacking funds is no disgrace.
Sometimes we cannot help the circumstances into which life
thrust us. Likewise, not yet having achieved your dream is no
disgrace. What should change is acceptance of these
circumstances without a desire to improve. What should change
is the acceptance of limitations.
In my community, Sister Marie Forgothy labored over
fifty years helping the poor. A few years before her death, I
asked her who would carry on her legacy when she no longer
could. Her response was surprising. She told me there would
always be poor people. If I wanted to help poor people, I should
help educate youngsters. Education was a way to escape being
poor.
What Conklin and Sister Marie are saying is that there
will always be people who cannot develop the desire to change
their circumstance. They are trapped in turmoil and turbulence.
They don’t understand how to escape. That is a harsh reality of
life.
What about you? You may not be living in a slum or be
considered poor, but you may want to change your
circumstances. How strong is your desire for change? Are you
content to remain where you are for the rest of your life?
The story is told of the warrior who sent his armies into
battle against almost impossible odds. After he landed his troops
on the enemy’s shore, he burned his ships. Speaking to his
shocked soldiers, he told them that they could not leave these
shores alive unless they won. They had no choice—it was either
win or perish! They won!
Can you adopt the attitude of those soldiers? It is desire,
backed by strong action, that makes things happen and leads to
success.