Are You Good Timber, Or Just a Scrubby Thing?
I think that everyone goes through hard times at some time in their life. I’ve had my share of hard times. I’ve been divorced, I know what poverty is, I flunked out of college, and had a heckuva time raising my boys.
All in all it’s been a good ride, but I can assure you I have had my share of hard times.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Have you ever seen the Disney movie Aladdin? Aladdin says to the evil genie, “You can’t kill me.” In which the evil genie says, “You’re right, but you’d be amazed what you can live through.”
One of my favorite sayings is, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
I found this poem the other day, I couldn’t find the author. At any rate, this wonderful poem about this law of life.
The Law Of Life
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king,
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
Who never had to win his share
Of sun sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow in ease.
The stronger wind, the tougher trees,
The farther sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength,
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.
We live in a society that almost expects everything to be easy, to be instantaneous, and require very little effort. You’ve probably heard the saying, no pain no gain.
Why is it that we all want to take the easy route? We want life to be convenient, and if it’s not easy it’s not worth it. But the truth of the matter is, if it is easy it won’t stretch us, it won’t require that we use our talents, we would get lazy, lethargic, and whatever it is that we are doing most likely won’t be worth it any ways.
I read an article once were a multimillionaire was asked what his secret to success was. He responded that every day he did things that other people didn’t want to do. Most people don’t want to do the hard things, the things that require effort, or the things that aren’t convenient.
Is it really that simple? Is the difference between success and not simply doing things that are hard?
That is your assignment today – I want you to give that some thought. Are you good timber?
