Regardless of what we do, it almost always comes down to whether it’s a success or a failure. Like taking a daily bus to work.
Normally there’s more than one option for us to choose. Some are simply good. Just by choosing one of them, the chance of success will be automatically enhanced and secured. For those who want to get from my apartment to the banking center where I work, the bus number 522 is a great option. 522 is a “rapid bus” which skips 70% of the bus stops and doesn’t have to follow a fixed schedule: it runs as fast as the traffic allows. By taking a 522, I can get to work in less than 30 minutes, sometimes even within 20 minutes!
Good options, however, don’t come around very often. We can’t help but to look for available alternatives which aren’t gonna be as appealing. In those less fortunate days when 552s are nowhere to be seen, a Number 22 will take me instead. 22 is a “standard” bus which stops at every single bus stop on its path and follows the schedule faithfully. When a 22 shows up early, I can’t ever be glad knowing that it’s gonna rest for 10-15 minutes somewhere on the road to keep up with the schedule. And I will arrive at work in (averagely) 45 minutes.
25 minutes and 45 minutes are decisively different. One would make me a model employee who shows up gloriously 15 minutes ahead of the schedule; another would show the world that I am nothing but a slacker who apparently not very talented at time management. If every bus in the world magically became a 522, I would be very happy.
Wishful thinking doesn’t help, and none of us controls the existence of the good and bad things, they may as well be left to chances. Humanity, therefore, is stuck forever with absolute blind luck.
Or is it, really?
Many people in the past have moved mountains, conquered great seas, and changed history. I believe that each and every one of us possesses the power to change many things, including those that are yet to come upon us. One day I got tired of hoping for seeing a 522 coming every single morning, so I decided to change. I started waking up 15 minutes earlier. Now by the time I get to the bus stop, it no longer matters which bus is coming. Either 522 or 33 will get me to work on time, and if I don’t feel like it, I can even skip a 22 to wait for an eventual 522 in pleasure. By waking up a little earlier, I am able to choose which bus to get in. By changing ourselves a little bit, we gain the power to manage the future’s outcomes.
Self-discipline is no easy task. Significant changes occur when one’s will is determined enough. By being a little bit more determined, we can have many of those good and bad things grasped in our hands, and the power to control them is to our disposal. And finally, we may as well be a bit, though just a tiny bit, more successful in Life.
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