Sunday, August 7, 2016

Self Motivation – Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are

SELF MOTIVATION PHILOSOPHY

This morning I read a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: 

Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are 

This reminded me of a self-help article I had written 20 years ago in the 1990s – which formed the basis of many of my motivational lectures – and – which I had posted online a number of times since the year 2006 in my blogs in various forms. 

Here is an abridged and updated version of the article...

LIKE IT or LUMP IT
Musings
By
VIKRAM KARVE

I learnt more about the art of living by reading good literature – rather than from hearing sermons and moral lectures  or from high-falutin philosophy or spiritualism.

One thing good about the Navy is that it inculcated and fostered the reading habit in me.

I read a lot of sea stories and novels like The Cruel SeaThe Caine MutinyRun Silent Run DeepHMS UlyssesTales of the South Pacific  and so many more sea stories and war novels like All Quiet on the Western Front  Catch-22 etc

One sea novel I like very much is THE CAPTAIN by Jan De Hartog

In this story  the protagonist is a Merchant Navy Officer.

The Naval Officer is frustrated because  owing to reasons beyond his control  he gets stuck sailing in small Tugs  whereas  he wants to sail in larger ships of the Main Fleet.

Seeing his frustration  his Tug Captain gives him a maxim:

“ Ou Dieu vous a seme  il faut savoir fleurir ” 

which roughly translated means

“ You must know how to flower where God has sown you ” 

or

“ wherever God plants you  there you must learn how to bloom ”

The young Merchant Navy Officer takes this to heart  he works very hard on the Tug  and then  he works with dedication, sincerity and devotion to duty throughout his career on Tugs.

In due course  he becomes the most famous sea-going Tug Captain  and ultimately the owner of flourishing company with a huge fleet of ocean going tugs.

Inspired by this book – I too tried my best to imbibe this philosophy in my life  especially in my Naval Career – and – I tried my best to “flower” wherever the Navy posted me.

It is good philosophy to apply in your life:

“wherever God plants you  there you must learn how to flower and bloom”


LIKE IT OR LUMP IT

If you do not get what you like – then – you must learn to like what you get – and – you must make the most of it 

Like they say in the Navy:

If you don’t like it  just lump it.

“Like it or “Lump it 

There is another saying I read a few years ago:

If life gives you a lemon  make lemonade.

Yes  when life gives you a lemon – use that lemon and make lemonade”  instead of cribbing and carping  wallowing in self pity  becoming bitter and spreading bitterness  and making your own life hell and everyone else’s life miserable.

Like they say in NLP :

There is no such thing as failure” 

There is only “learning experience

So  metaphorically  the lemon” is the failure  and  the lemonade” is the learning experience.

And this “learning experience” will enable you to “flower” and bloom wherever you are “sown” or “planted

Well  I have tried to follow this mantra: “ Ou Dieu vous a seme  il faut savoir fleurir ”  

When I was in the Navy  wherever the Navy transferred me  to whatever job they assigned me  whether they promoted me or not  I tried not to get disillusioned or demoralized  and in my own inimitable style  I tried to do my best to “flower” and bloom wherever I was “sown” or “planted

Yes  I made lemonade” with all the lemons the Navy gave me.

I am trying to do this after my retirement too  trying to “flower” and bloom in the back-of-beyond lonely place called Wakad, near Pune  where God has planted me after my retirement. 

That is one of the reasons you are reading this Blog.

Yes  the result of all this “flowering” and blooming is this prolific Blog and the couple of books I have written. 

Well  I am going to flower and bloom away and bash on regardless with my Blogging and Writing  since this is the best thing I can do where God has planted me. 

God has given me the lemon” of loneliness. 

And  from this lemon of loneliness  I have made the lemonade” of my blogs and my books and all my writing.

Have a good day - whatever lemons” you get today  just keep making lemonade” and enjoy every drop of it.

Sometimes you may feel a sense of “failure”  you may feel that you have “failed in life.

There is no such thing as “failure”  it is all in the mind.

And still if you feel a sense of “failure”  think of “failure” as a lemon” – and make lemonade”.

Talking of the lemon” of “failure”  let me tell you one thing I have learnt from my own life experiences.

Remember the maxim:

“ Ou Dieu vous a seme  il faut savoir fleurir ”  

(wherever God plants you  there you must learn how to flower and bloom)

Apply this to your life.

Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are – and  you will “flower and bloom” wherever you are

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:
1. These are my personal views. Please do your own due diligence while selecting a philosophy of life.
2. All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:
No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

No comments: