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“I have SUCCEEDED in whatever I have undertaken, because I have
WILLED it. I have NEVER HESITATED, which has given me an ADVANTAGE
over the rest of mankind.”
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Napoleon Bonaparte
I received some
criticism from some of you on last week’s FitBit. Apparently some
of you felt that I was “…being too tough and mean-spirited…” and
that my sentiments were “…for the strong, and ignored the needs of
the weak…”
If you
were offended in any way, please accept my most heart felt apology. I
would like to ask you to please go back and re-read the article, but
before you do, please consider the following thoughts.
If you
believe I was being “too tough,” ask yourself the following
questions: Do you believe that life is tough? Do you believe that life
is filled with obstacles and challenges? Do you believe that the load
you are sometimes forced to bear sometimes exceeds your capacity?
If you
believe I was being “mean-spirited,” then I want you to
consider this: I can do nothing to lighten your load, I can only make my
own personal, and perhaps feeble attempts, to share with you some
ancient wisdom than was passed down to me in an effort to give you a
stronger back. I have been blessed with great mentors in my life that
have, at precisely the right moment, said precisely the right words to
raise my level of consciousness, and gifted to me the ideas, tactics and
strategies to strengthen my back to carry heavier loads. The only way I
know of to show my appreciation for the generosity my mentors showed me
is to pass what I have learned on to you.
I
readily admit to you, that at times I lack the diplomacy, charm and
grace of my mentors, and you may take my honesty for
“…mean-spiritedness.” If you do, again, my apology.
You
may believe that “All things come to he who waits,” but from
Abraham Lincoln I learned “All things come to he who waits, but only
those things left over by he who hustles.”
You
may believe that you are entitled to “Life, Liberty and Happiness,”
but from Thomas Jefferson I learned that he believed that “We are
endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights…Life, Liberty and
the PURSUIT of Happiness.” Our Founding Fathers, our Greatest
Generation of Americans, made unbelievable sacrifices. Many made the
ultimate sacrifice to throw off a tyrant in order for you and I and
everyone alive in our great country to realize those rights, but never
forget that you have a right to the “PURSUIT of Happiness” and that
translates into devoted, dedicated, hard-work in the direction of your
dreams.
You
may believe you are entitled to a high paying, successful job, but from
Theodore Roosevelt I learned “Perhaps there is no more important
component of character than steadfast resolution. The boy who is going
to make a great man, or is going to count in any way in the afterlife,
must make up in his mind not merely to overcome a thousand obstacles,
but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.”
You
may believe that I write “…for the strong, and ignore the needs of the
weak…,” but you should consider that I write to make you
strong.
Please
consider the following:
- If you think you are
beaten, you are.
- If you think you dare
not, you don’t.
- If you’d like to win,
but think you can’t.
- It’s almost a cinch
you won’t.
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- Life’s battles don’t
always go
- To the stronger or
faster man;
- But soon or late the
man who wins
- Is the one who thinks
he can.
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-Anonymous
If you
feel inclined to argue the point with me, I welcome you to Tampa, FL, at
the “Fitness By the Bay Conference,” July 28 thru 30, 2005,
and/or “IFPA University West” in Las Vegas, September 8 thru 10, 2005.
- Sincerely,
- Jim Bell, PhDc
- President, IFPA
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