No. 556 - AGAINST THE WIND

No. 556

Jim Davidson NEWSPAPER COLUMN

AGAINST THE WIND

If you have thought much about life and what it takes to succeed, you have probably also come to the conclusion that things that come easy or don't cost anything, over the long run do not have much lasting value.
I was reminded of this in a wonderful way the other day when a friend sent me something titled, "Against the Wind." This piece did not list an author, so I checked it out on the Internet. All I could find was the song "Against the Wind" performed by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, and the words were a far cry from being the same.
Read these words and see if they don't also inspire you. "The faster you move forward, the more intensely you will feel the wind against your face. The more progress you make, the more resistance you're likely to encounter. When the challenges become more formidable, it's because you have become strong enough to handle them. Failure rarely meets much opposition. Success, on the other hand, is often challenged at every turn.
"When you are meeting up with resistance, it's because you're having an effect. That's one of the strongest signals you could ever receive to keep on keeping on. Achievement does not come easy. That's why it is so celebrated and valuable. Each challenge serves to further prove the value of your pursuit and the depth of your strength. Persist and endure, for the challenges confirm that you are already making it happen."
Wow! That's about as much solid, inspirational prose as I have ever seen packed in a few lines. Wish I could say that I am the original author. It's wonderful. Every once in a while, I have a reader take me to task because I use a good deal of the writings or ideas of others in some of my columns. I don't make any apologies for this. So long as the information is not copyrighted and I acknowledge that it's not mine and give the source, I definitely think it makes for a much better column. To me, this is much better than always talking about myself, our kids, our family, our in-laws, who we went to visit or who came to visit us and so on.
When I first started this column about 11 years ago, I set forth my purpose and what I hoped to accomplish in writing it. My goal is to always try to provide some benefit for you, the reader. While it may sound corny, my heartfelt desire is to help other people to live a better, happier and more rewarding life. I don't succeed every time. I am aware of that, but it's still my hearts desire. If I find, or someone sends me, a great idea that I believe will be helpful, I want to pass it along. It's just that simple.
Well, that's enough of that. I'm sure you get the message. But back to the piece "Against the Wind" for a moment, as it clearly demonstrates the more you succeed the stronger the resistance will be. To quote from the article, "Failure rarely meets much opposition. Success, on the other hand, is often challenged at every turn." Now, to the obvious. Are you doing something really important in your life where you are challenged to do your very best work and to overcome obstacles that would cause the lesser committed, to throw in the towel?
If you are, I hope you will clip out the piece "Against the Wind" and keep it handy where you can read it often. To really succeed in anything, we must have or develop self-confidence in our abilities that will cause us to keep going, when everyone and everything around us says to give up Ñ to quit trying. It's a whole lot easier to sit back and complain or pick someone else's ideas apart than it is to put our shoulder to the wheel and make a positive contribution.
Over the years I have found there are two groups of people Ñ the givers and the takers. The takers are the real losers, because when most people find out, they don't get invited back.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, Ark. 72034. To support literacy, buy his book, "Learning, Earning & Giving Back.")