Wanting and Getting

Off Topic
1

Today’s strong words:

“If you greatly desire something, have the guts to stake everything on obtaining it. – Brendan Francis”

Quotes like these are not new. Not only do well known people endorse this sort of philosophy, but also everyday folk. Variations on this theme include the idea that you will get what you want if you DO something to get it. “If you want something, take it” type mentality That you have to have commitment, drive, motivation…etc.

Basically, it’s a variety of motivational sayings and concepts that are all pretty inter-related, a rider to this sort of stuff is the idea that “it is better to try and fail than not try at all”

So I’ve got a few questions.

Do you believe it? if so, How often has this sort of wisdom shown itself in your life? How often hasn’t it? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you really greatly desired something, and you tried very hard to get it, but for whatever reasons, failed to get it, and inso doing, found yourself worse off than you started?

Personally, I have had plenty of successes when I’ve applied myself, and I’ve also had failures. I imagine everyone is the same. Some times failure is really hard to manage, and other times, it is easier to rebound from. LIkewise, sometimes success is taken for granted, and other times it is gratifying beyond measure.

Since I started weight-training ~7 months ago, I have really appreciated the directness of it. You put in hard work, you eat right, you sleep, you get results. The work put in and the results from it are easy to measure

Of all of it though, I don’t think I could advise someone that ‘all you’ve got to do is want it badly enough, and do everything in your power to get it’. Because, more often than not. There doesn’t seem to be too much rhyme or reason to it, and it seems like somewhat of a craps shoot.

Basically, I don’t have much, but I am curious how others interpret this sort of stuff in their lives.

2

You get what you put in.

I think Jefferson said something about how the harder he worked, the luckier he seemed to get.

Crap shoot my ass.

3

[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Today’s strong words:

“If you greatly desire something, have the guts to stake everything on obtaining it. – Brendan Francis”

Quotes like these are not new. Not only do well known people endorse this sort of philosophy, but also everyday folk. Variations on this theme include the idea that you will get what you want if you DO something to get it. “If you want something, take it” type mentality That you have to have commitment, drive, motivation…etc.

Basically, it’s a variety of motivational sayings and concepts that are all pretty inter-related, a rider to this sort of stuff is the idea that “it is better to try and fail than not try at all”

So I’ve got a few questions.

Do you believe it? if so, How often has this sort of wisdom shown itself in your life? How often hasn’t it? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you really greatly desired something, and you tried very hard to get it, but for whatever reasons, failed to get it, and inso doing, found yourself worse off than you started?

Personally, I have had plenty of successes when I’ve applied myself, and I’ve also had failures. I imagine everyone is the same. Some times failure is really hard to manage, and other times, it is easier to rebound from. LIkewise, sometimes success is taken for granted, and other times it is gratifying beyond measure.

Since I started weight-training ~7 months ago, I have really appreciated the directness of it. You put in hard work, you eat right, you sleep, you get results. The work put in and the results from it are easy to measure

Of all of it though, I don’t think I could advise someone that ‘all you’ve got to do is want it badly enough, and do everything in your power to get it’. Because, more often than not. There doesn’t seem to be too much rhyme or reason to it, and it seems like somewhat of a craps shoot.

Basically, I don’t have much, but I am curious how others interpret this sort of stuff in their lives.

[/quote]

Well, here’s a quote for you. Came from a guy named Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

"You should be more concerned with fixing yourself a nice tall glass of SHUT UP JUICE!!!

FIX IT!!!

4

Ha! I should have known the T-Nation crowd would be quick to assume I’m complaining or something. I’m really not… just sitting around thinking.

5

[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Ha! I should have known the T-Nation crowd would be quick to assume I’m complaining or something. I’m really not… just sitting around thinking.

[/quote]

Nothing against you, Male Violence, I just like using that quote but rarely get the chance too.

6

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
You get what you put in.

I think Jefferson said something about how the harder he worked, the luckier he seemed to get.

Crap shoot my ass.[/quote]

this is absolutely true. work generates luck. just watch a hockey game to see this in action. it also accounts for the ill-will/jealousy many people have toward others who “make it” .

i’m not really down with today’s quote though because it seems in direct contrast to a sign over my uncle’s poker table which reads “risk not thy whole wad”.

i’ll risk everything i’ve got on the table, but not what i walked in with. that’s where the line is crossed into foolishness.

7

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
You get what you put in.

I think Jefferson said something about how the harder he worked, the luckier he seemed to get.

Crap shoot my ass.[/quote]

See, that’s the crux of it. You really don’t, not always. Sometimes you get more than you put in, and sometimes you get less than you put in, sometimes you end up worse than you started, despite a lot of hard work.

I think there is a distinction to be made somewhere in here, but I’m not sure where it is. Perhaps, that you only have control over your life, and as long as your hard working and focused in your life, you will get the things that directly affect your life.

But, as soon as other people are involved in the equation, their motives might directly or indirectly contradict yours, and despite your best efforts, someone else might end up with what you wanted.

Happens in sports all the time. Also in jobs, school, dating…etc.

So maybe that’s why those pieces of wisdom don’t mesh with me too well. They only seem to apply in closed systems. If I have a job, damn fuck I’m going to work hard to accomplish it, and inso doing, I am undoubtedly going to get something out of it.

Unless, my boss decides that he wants to give that slacker that showed up late all last week and relies on everyone else around him to do most of the work a promotion.

So how do you reconcile something like that? when your best efforts are subverted by someone else’s best efforts, or more insultingly, their authority or raw ability to shut you down.

Obviously, you can’t let failure get the best of you. I would say, that letting failure break you is as bad of an offense as not working hard to get what you want.

Just some thoughts…

8

[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Just some thoughts…[/quote]

Well, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t make.

Also, if you don’t fail, what do you have to learn from?

Do you think every one of Thomas Edison’s inventions were successful?

You don’t always (hardly ever) get a full return on the work you put in. That’s called life.