The four most powerful letter words in the world: LOVE. Last Monday at ENGAGE we had the graduation ceremony of our 4th Batch ENGAGE Corps, celebrating their work to support visually impaired students in their studies.
It happened that I had to do the closing. I did not really planned any speech it but I felt I should say something “stupid” to all our ENGAGE Corps and somehow the word “love” come to my mind.
Maybe it is because without love, all the passion and determination would never be enough to give strength to carry on in the pursuit of your goals. ENGAGE would not exist anymore without passion and determination.
You must know very well that without these two ingredients, hardly anything of value can be created.
Passion and determination are the energizers that motivate us to work hard; they are like a can of Red Bull without any side effect.
Without “hard work”, big things do not happen. By pushing yourself hard, only you can make things happen. Well, sadly it is not always like this but call this life. It is because of failures, we became stronger and more resilient. It is true that only achievements are celebrated and highlighted but few people fully realize that without failures and mistakes, the most amazing achievements would not have ever happened.
There was a song by a group called Chumbawamba, quite a few years ago, a pretty cool song which I used to love not just because I danced it but because of its lyrics:
“I get knocked down But I get up again, You're never going to keep me down”
To get up again, you need to fight and you need to make sacrifices. Only with a big heart, you can make it because it is all about giving whatever you have. You have to use the reserve and again here love comes again. In short, you need to be a “braveheart”.
You really need to love what you are doing at. This kind of love, out of efforts and pain, requires commitment as there is no real commitment without real love for what you are doing.
Why should you do that? Is it worth? Why should you make sacrifices when you are not appreciated or simply you know since the outset that it will never ever work out the way you really want?
Few reasons:
- Living without trying is just a waste
- Be satisfied means being happy with yourself
Always TRY
For trying there is no charge. It is for free. If you do not try, you will never really know. You will probably live in regrets. Try even when it looks impossible. Maybe it is really out of question, you try something really too big for you. You will fail but then you will also realize that probably you need to have a new strategy to get where you want or maybe you realize that what you really wanted is not really want you want in the long run. Maybe you need to be more realistic in your goals or maybe you simply have to work harder and harder as you did not push yourself enough. Trying and failing will help you in future.
What about trying in love? You love someone and you know you have no chance but do not backtrack, be bold and share your feelings. You will hit the wall, you feel like an idiot, you will lose some appetite but then you will bounce back and at the end you will say “well, it is not my loss!!!
That’s why when you got hit, it is always important you come up with a quick coping mechanism that will help you bouncing back, stronger than ever. It can be anything, even silly things that will help boost your confidence because a person without confidence is a ghost and there is no room for ghost on earth: a new look, going to the SPA, start working out at the gym, a new hobby or a new commitment. You need to show that life goes on and even if you are in pain and you hide it, you need to show that you are embracing life at the fullest.
Satisfied therefore HAPPY
If you give all the best of yourself, if you always ending up being satisfied. I am not sure how to define or describe satisfaction but to me is something about “fullness”, you feel full for what you have been doing regardless of being able to succeed or fail. Fullness, as opposite to emptiness, will help you feeling happy of yourself.
You might say “Today it was a good day because I gave my best”. I do not want to minimize or reduce the scope or boundaries of happiness. There are many other factors behind it and personal satisfaction is only one of them.
To conclude, love your boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend and family but also equally important you must LOVE whatever thing you do. Use love in whatever thing you do: embrace every single thing you are doing with sheer passion and determination, empathy and compassion.
I know how these words sound pathetic or cliché especially when you are into a difficult moment.
Everybody goes through terrible times, personal tragedies and losses or simply work failures. If you are lucky, being loved by your friends and dear ones will help you kicking off a new start. But this won’t be enough. You need to work yourself the hard way out of these situations. You need to find a way to fully bounce back on your own and on your terms.
A new passion, a new commitment, a new start with something you really love. Out of this, a new sense of determination will rise. Stick with it. Be ready to for a fight whenever it is necessary. Be consistent and do not give up easily and smile as much as possible. There is no harm on that, believe me and it helps too.
PS
If you are down then the Chumbawamba will help lifting you up
Add new comment