What if I Gave Everything?

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Abstract

th my mouth open in a silent scream as the doctor cut a slot down the middle of my fingernail so he could withdraw what I had put there accidentally in my effort to leave my mark on this world.Has this been similar to your experience of trying to make your mark? First the desire, then the attempt, then the failure, then the effort to fix it which causes more problems, then the pain and now the memories that haunt us and too often keep us from trying again.Each of us have at our core the need for significance. Some say that is the deepest desire of the human heart. We want our life to mean something….something more than just eating and drinking, working and sleeping and trying to have a good time along the way. Yet often our attempts to make a difference wind up in failure and pain, like mine when I was 11. The visions of grandeur from our youth give way to responsibilities and bills and raising a family. Too many give up and eventually resolve to just keep their head down and try to make it to retirement, when they can enjoy the “fruit” of their labor.The hopelessness of failed attempts to leave our mark litters the human landscape. We celebrate the few who make it to the top of their fields, the Einsteins, the Bill Gates, the Michael Jordans. But what is the missing ingredient that causes us to miss our shot at self-actualization, of living our dreams, making a mark on this world?A good friend told me recently that he feels in a fog when he’s at work. He said he feels like he’s only operating at 60% capacity there and doesn’t know why. Do you feel similarly?Why is it we are often distr

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acted and cannot focus for long periods of time on a single priority? What does it take to have the follow through and stick to it-ness that true champions exhibit?What if you gave everything? What if you stopped holding back? What if you truly left it all on the field?What could one person, one hundred percent dedicated to an objective accomplish?Could you be that one?I believe part of the reason we often find it difficult to commit one hundred percent to our goals is that we are divided on the inside. We hold a set of beliefs and values but often don’t live up to them. Then we have guilt and remorse that weighs on us and keeps us torn up inside.In order to not be divided against ourselves we need to live lives that are internally congruent. In other words, we must practice what we preach.Once you are living a fully integrated life you have the power of focus. That, as Mr. Miyagi told the Karate Kid, is the key to success. Because the focus of an undivided self allows you to put your full power into accomplishing your goals.When you give everything and lay it all on the line — like a soldier dodging enemy fire to take a hill — you find almost superhuman strength rising up from within you.The power to achieve your destiny comes from living a life of internal congruence and 100% commitment to your goals. This will exhibit itself in study, preparation and building a network to help you achieve your dream. Believe in the power of total commitment and you can achieve your destiny.(C) 2017 by Paul Comfort</article></body>

What if I Gave Everything?

By Paul Comfort

It was the summer of 1976 and I wanted to leave my mark on the world. At age 11 my self concept was developing and a sense of destiny was forming in my heart. We had abandoned our idea to build a four foot tower of Popsicle sticks and display it at the foot of the state capital steps when Craig’s mom had tripped on our creation and knocked it down the stairs, shattering it into just a thousand reminders of sweet treats we had eaten to make our sculpture.

Now my friend Craig and I were walking uptown near our home in Eastport, Annapolis when one of us had a bright idea, “let’s carve our initials in this telephone pole”. I pulled out my pocket knife and began to push the blade up the dark, tarred wood in order to leave my indelible mark on this my world. Unfortunately the blade slipped up and in a flash a large splinter had deposited itself under my fingernail. I ran home to mom and dad crying in pain and disbelief. They soaked my hand in warm water for about an hour to see if the splinter would come out but it didn’t.

Thus we headed to the emergency room where the doctor upon observing my hand asked my parents, “you didn’t soak it did you?”…. Apparently that water caused the wood to split apart under my nail so the doctor couldn’t pull it out in one yank. So instead he cut my nail with a pair of scissors and without any pain killer. I still remember sitting on that table some 40 years ago with my mouth open in a silent scream as the doctor cut a slot down the middle of my fingernail so he could withdraw what I had put there accidentally in my effort to leave my mark on this world.

Has this been similar to your experience of trying to make your mark? First the desire, then the attempt, then the failure, then the effort to fix it which causes more problems, then the pain and now the memories that haunt us and too often keep us from trying again.

Each of us have at our core the need for significance. Some say that is the deepest desire of the human heart. We want our life to mean something….something more than just eating and drinking, working and sleeping and trying to have a good time along the way. Yet often our attempts to make a difference wind up in failure and pain, like mine when I was 11. The visions of grandeur from our youth give way to responsibilities and bills and raising a family. Too many give up and eventually resolve to just keep their head down and try to make it to retirement, when they can enjoy the “fruit” of their labor.

The hopelessness of failed attempts to leave our mark litters the human landscape. We celebrate the few who make it to the top of their fields, the Einsteins, the Bill Gates, the Michael Jordans. But what is the missing ingredient that causes us to miss our shot at self-actualization, of living our dreams, making a mark on this world?

A good friend told me recently that he feels in a fog when he’s at work. He said he feels like he’s only operating at 60% capacity there and doesn’t know why. Do you feel similarly?

Why is it we are often distracted and cannot focus for long periods of time on a single priority? What does it take to have the follow through and stick to it-ness that true champions exhibit?

What if you gave everything? What if you stopped holding back? What if you truly left it all on the field?

What could one person, one hundred percent dedicated to an objective accomplish?

Could you be that one?

I believe part of the reason we often find it difficult to commit one hundred percent to our goals is that we are divided on the inside. We hold a set of beliefs and values but often don’t live up to them. Then we have guilt and remorse that weighs on us and keeps us torn up inside.

In order to not be divided against ourselves we need to live lives that are internally congruent. In other words, we must practice what we preach.

Once you are living a fully integrated life you have the power of focus. That, as Mr. Miyagi told the Karate Kid, is the key to success. Because the focus of an undivided self allows you to put your full power into accomplishing your goals.

When you give everything and lay it all on the line — like a soldier dodging enemy fire to take a hill — you find almost superhuman strength rising up from within you.

The power to achieve your destiny comes from living a life of internal congruence and 100% commitment to your goals. This will exhibit itself in study, preparation and building a network to help you achieve your dream. Believe in the power of total commitment and you can achieve your destiny.