THE DICTIONARY IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT
SUCCESS COMES BEFORE WORK.
(Vince Lombardi)
Most of the people in this world we consider "successes" didn't get that way by chance. They usually worked their butts off to achieve whatever it is we respect them for. No matter what that is - losing weight, making a ton of money, running a marathon, starting a business, quitting smoking - it took guts and nerves and stamina and many, many long hard hours of labor and doubt and fear before those goals were reached and recognized by the rest of us.
How many times have you heard someone say, "Oh, she just got lucky" or "He's an overnight success" or "Why can't that [good thing] happen to me? It's not fair!" I admit, I used to say those things, especially when I was younger. But then I started looking behind the successes and really seeing what it took to get there. It was then I realized I'm on that road myself...along with you all and anyone else who's striving for something, who's challenging themselves, who's pushing for better, to do better.
Sure, it's a long road but at least we're not traveling alone. We've got each other.
No one just falls into success - it must be earned.
ReplyDeleteAlex - I agree. The problem is that a lot of other people don't recognize that... or don't want to. It's sometimes easier to pass others' success off as luck instead of doing the hard work ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI am a firm believer that hard work always pays off in the end...
ReplyDeleteOE - absolutely! It's just sometimes hard to see that when you're busy slogging through. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the quote and I agree with the sentiment of this post. And that it is sometimes hard to see when you're busy slogging through.
ReplyDeleteBut we'll get there eventually. =)
It's funny how many people try to claim success is just a result of luck. I never understand the desire to diminish someone's accomplishments. Always loved this quote!
ReplyDeleteMJ - thanks! I'm learning to pick my head up and look around a bit, see not only how far I have yet to go, but also how far I've come.
ReplyDeleteJulie - I wonder if for some people it's not so much a malicious desire to diminish another's accomplishment as it's just maybe feeling bad about their own and they know no other way to express how they feel - sad, maybe jealous, at a loss?
It is a long road, and it's not easy, but I think the hard work makes the success in the end even sweeter! :)
ReplyDeleteLeigh - good point! The sense of accomplishment at the end of something we worked hard for does make it even better. :)
ReplyDeleteSo true - the back-story of success is never so interesting as the success itself!
ReplyDeleteAnnalisa - no one wants to see us crying at our keyboards or ripping up draft after draft or searching for way too long to find just the right word... :)
ReplyDeleteEvery time I go to a conference, I hear some speaker say that (writer)success generally takes 10 years. The first time I heard that line, I thought come ON. TEN years?
ReplyDeleteNow, ten years seems about right. :-)
(Enjoyed your Valentine story, Madeline. 'Course, now I have that screeching Psycho music in my head--)
Cathy - yeah, ten years or more. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't that Psycho music just so romantic for Valentine's Day. :)