August 7, 2009

“When you know better than you try to live, you wind up being a pretty miserable person.”

We learned long ago that we are not perfect.  Fortunately, for many successful people, this knowledge did not stop nor stifle their ongoing quest for perfection.  Unfortunately, for others, our inability to be perfect at all times and in all places and in all things is one of but many excuses to lower their target in life.

Why is it that so many know who they should be but settle for something less?  Others have remarkable talents that remain largely underdeveloped.  Still others ignore what they know to be right for what might be expedient.  Perhaps saddest of all are those who make a conscious decision to always take the easiest path available.

Life is designed to stretch us.  At times, we feel stretched beyond our pliability, yet those who seem to be happiest are those who find it within themselves to remain malleable to the challenges that build strength.  Conversely, sadness almost invariably comes to those who are unresponsive to difficult tasks. 

Recently, we were with a talented and handsome man who had for too long lived well below his abilities, both mentally and spiritually.  The toll of unfulfilled promise weighed heavily on his soul.  Gone was the spark.  Once held visions of life’s dreams and goals were vanished.  The whisper from close by sadly voiced what we were all thinking, “When you know better than you try to live, you wind up being a pretty miserable person.”

Few things cause more heartache than potential unrealized.      

Craig Halsey

They Said It

August 7, 2009