"The greatest pleasure in life is in doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot. Walter, believe it or not, was once the editor of The Economist, which, of course, is a financial magazine. He was the editor way back in the mid-1800's though, so it was way before the magazine became a mouthpiece for the powers that be.
Bagehot was born about 145 years ahead of his time, judging him purely by his quote. I like to loosely live by that quote as my motto. If people say I can't do something... particularly if it is something physical, I like to practice until I can prove them wrong. Personally, I hate when people use age as an excuse. And I hate even more when they use MY age as an excuse! "You can't do that! You're 50 years old!" Yes, I am fifty years old, but I CAN do that! I will practice the move over and over again until I can do that. Spinning back kick to someone's head. Yep, I can do it. I practiced for months, but I CAN do it. I am now trying to teach my daughter how to do it. It is a definite show off move. Punch a 100 pound bag over with one punch. Yes! That one only took me a few tries to get. Ditto the flying side kick. The trick is to get height. Even outside of karate, I don't like people telling me what I can't do, just because they or most people can't or won't do it. I started my own business because I thought I could work from home and get paid for it. I moved to New Hampshire because I thought New Jersey was grossly over-taxing everyone. Well, what can you do, people said, if you live here, you got to pay it. Well then I won't live here. Yeah right! That's right, I bought a house in New Hampshire in 2005, and have been saving on taxes ever since. Similar to the quote, I do take pleasure in doing what people say I can't do. No fear. We weren't born to live in fear. At least not fear of trying. If I want to do something, and it IS possible, then I am going to try until I can do it. If others don't like that, tough luck! Live for yourself. Do what people say you can't do. I am not advocating breaking the law here. I think you can see where I am coming from by the examples I used. Follow your heart. Do what you want...even if you need to expend time and energy to do it. Time and energy is kung fu. become a kung fu master! and take pleasure from doing things others have said you cannot do!
1 Comment
Frank Wang
5/19/2016 08:35:54 pm
All for this paradigm! Explore if you don't have a clue what you really want to do, and don't be afraid to do what others think you cannot do!
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