Ask Not What the World Can Do For You

"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed."

Booker T. Washington
(1856-1915)



I think it is human nature to want the easy way out. It is in our nature to gravitate towards the easy and pleasurable and away from the hard and painful. This doesn't have to be a choice though between two extremes; I say "Work Hard ~ Play Hard" (see how this works in the classroom: Work Hard ~ Play Hard).

I'm listening to John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change", and it's making me picture John F. Kennedy saying "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

Political opinions and ideology aside (I had no idea how political Mayer's song was until I listened to the lyrics, and I think Kennedy was president or something - I'm just kidding. I've got to stop doing this before people start thinking I'm an idiot. "Who is this idiot teaching our children? What is this idiot writing about now? Look at that idiot riding the motorcycle. - Ooh! One more month and my arm will be healed enough for me to ride my motorcycle again. I can't wait. I'm going to drive so fast.............no, now I'm just being an idiot.)

Political opinions and ideology aside, looking at the idea of waiting for things to change before we change is absolutely ridiculous. The great Dr. Seuss warned of this "waiting place" in his masterpiece, "Oh The Places You'll Go!" This attitude is crippling to our own growth as well as any growth together with another person. Falling in love is just as real as growing apart is, the former done together and the latter seperately. How sad, and how too often. It's time for a change. And this change takes courage.

This is our fight. We aren't cavemen fighting off wild beasts just to survive. We're not in the dark or middle ages born into a caste system and helplessly fighting off disease or being bled to death by the doctors trying to "cure" us from them. We are free to truly make our lives anything we want. And the key word is "make".

Set healthy boundaries for yourself and others: mutual respect, honesty, fidelity, etc. Allow those into your life that share your interests and are mature enough to operate within the boundaries that are important to you. Then work on what you can give to others and to the world by working on you.

If you want to make muscle you struggle with weight that is heavy for you. It may be hard but you make the effort anyway. It's hard to change the world, maybe impossible. But it's not impossible to change your world. And when you change, things in your world change. When your change your own world for the better you can then help others do the same for theirs. Who knows? If enough of us do this maybe the world itself can change for the better.

Ask not what the world can do for you, ask what you can do for the world; one person at a time, starting with yourself.