“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas Edison

This post is mostly for myself, a small reminder for myself to always return to regarding my view on life which has changed quite a good deal since I was younger. In my youth I was in more of a state of mind of instant gratification, instant reward. In my mind, if I saw no results immediately, then it must be that the matter at hand must not be worth any effort because of the lack of immediate results, but now I think that all good things take time and effort.

I may jump around every which direction in this short post, but I know where I’m jumping, so you can follow or you can read this post with some sense of bewilderment, either way it’s okay, my mind can be a little flighty at times, but it’s of no great concern.

This is the part where I get a bit flighty and kind of jump from idea to idea:

With regard to the picture accompanying this post, it’s to signify the same general idea with regards to effort. This has to do with a concept that I like and it is the grassroots movement, the grassroots movement doesn’t relate to a single historical movement, but rather a general type of movement. The definition given on the site www.dictionary.com is: “the common or ordinary people, especially as contrasted with the leadership or elite of a political party, social organization, etc.; the rank and file”. I am just this “ordinary” and “common”, so if I expect to ever make the kinds of progress that I hope to make in my life I may as well be well aware beforehand of the grit and determination it will take on my part and know that my goals are going to require an uphill climb, but this early awareness will make the hard work more bearable.

I can’t find the direct source of the next quote, but it still relates to success and hard work, this time it comes in the form of a sort of story about Chinese bamboo:

“You start with a little seed, plant it, and water it for a whole year, but nothing happens. The second year you water it, again, nothing happens. The third year you water it, and still no signs of your effort. How frustrating! If you stayed consistent and continued to water it into the fifth year, the tree finally sprouts and grows up to ninety feet in six weeks!

The improvement process is much like the Chinese bamboo tree; it is often discouraging, but great things happen if you remain persistent when you aren’t seeing results. If it seems like all your hard work isn’t adding up right now–be patient and keep watering the bamboo.”

I get frustrated with my goals sometimes and discouraged, but these sorts of little reminders help me soldier on and this post is a way to keep all these different ideas all relating to my view of success and effort all in one place as a source for some gentle reminders that success takes time and effort to achieve.