Motivational Story - Your Strength and Weakness

--Live out of your imagination, not your history (STEPHEN COVEY)--

The following article covers a topic that has recently moved to center stage--at least it seems that way. If you've been thinking you need to know more about it, here's your opportunity.

It's really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of daily motivation. What you learn may extremely give you the confidence you need to venture into new areas.

One day in China, there was a young man standing near a very large river. He wanted to cross the river, so he waited for a raft to take him to cross it. A few minutes later, a raft got near to the riverside and the young man got to a fisherman paddling the raft. He said, "Would you do me a favor? I want to cross the river, but I can't, and fortunately you come here. Can you bring me over there and I will pay you for that." The fisherman then brought him to the land across.

On the journey at the river, they had conversation. The young man asked, "Do you know about computer? That's the most important technology nowadays." And the fisherman replied confusingly, "I don't." hearing the answer from the man, the young man stated, "If you know nothing about computer, it means that you have spent 2/5 of your own life vainly." The fisherman didn't give comment at all. A moment later, the young man asked the fisherman," Can you speak English fluently or at least you know a little bit about it?" And once again, the fisherman answered, "I don't. I can speak native language only." Then the young man said proudly, "English is spoken throughout the world. If you aren't able to speak English, you have spent 3/5 of your valuable life vainly." The young man kept on asking question to the man, "Do you understand about accounting? It's very important to manage our finance." The fisherman answered a little loudly and angrily, "I've never learnt about that, so I do not understand what you mean." And the young man said arrogantly, "Hey, man, if you don't learn accounting, you will spend 4/5 of your life vainly. Everybody must know it without exception." The fisherman kept staying calm. He didn't care for his cockiness.

At the half of the way to the destination across, there was a heavy storm and rain. They both was wet because the raft had no shelter, so the fisherman kept on paddling the raft and the young man began to feel cold. The rain and storm got heavier and suddenly, the raft began to crack and broken. The young man was very frightened because he knew that the raft would be drowned before he reached the land across. Knowing about that, he began to cry a little. Then the fisherman asked him seriously, "Can you swim?" The young man replied sadly, "No. I can't." The fisherman said sadly too, "You're unlucky today, young man. I tell you, if you can't swim, it means you have spent 5/5(all) of your life vainly because you'll die today because of your disability to swim. I can't help you more." Then the raft was finally drowned to the bottom of the deep river. The fisherman swam to the land and the young man died because he couldn't swim.



Message for readers:

Every person has his/her own strength or expertise. One's strength is perhaps different from others. We must know that we can't master everything in this world. It's impossible to learn all of the things because it'll make us confuse and it's in vain. It's far better to master one or several things that are considered to be important or necessary for us. Unfortunately, many people like to compare themselves to the strength of everyone. They always underestimate themselves and see their weakness instead of their strength.

Let's take an example. A computer expert compared to a doctor. We can't say that the computer expert is better and greater than doctor or otherwise, because their mastery about everything is far far different. The computer expert is great in computer science and the doctor is expert in medical science. Computer expert isn't greater than the doctor because the computer expert knows nothing about medical things and doctor isn't greater than computer expert because doctor doesn't know everything about computer. So they have their own strength and weakness.

Another example is the young man on the story above. He claimed that he has knowledge about computer, English and accounting. He felt better than the fisherman. But the young man died because he didn't know how to swim. The fisherman who knows none of them--computer, English, accounting--was alive just because he can swim. So don't concentrate our weakness, but just focus on our strength and utilize it so we can go ahead. Perhaps we're good at something, and in the other side we're bad in other things. It's just OK, it's normal for you and everyone because we can't be perfect to know all of the things in this world. We can also improve our weakness if we want it, however.

Remember, just focus on our strength. Don't compare someone's strength to you. Someone perhaps doesn't know what you know quite well. So utilize your strength for your benefits. Don't judge yourself lower and weaker than anyone else. It'll endanger yourself and make you having low self-esteem. Raise your self-esteem by enlisting your strength and always make improvement so you'll be better and stronger than before.

Tips: Take a sheet of paper and write down your strength that others do not have or write it down that you are proud of. The more your strength, the better. Don't waste your time to focus on other people's strength. Put your focus to be the best in your area or your life.

1. ______________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important about daily motivation.

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