Hello, dear one!
I bet you’ve wanted something, but talked yourself out of it at the end. It could be fear of the unknown, or it simply felt impossible.
Many years ago I met a Canadian dentist at a seminar, and his story perfectly echoed what Richard Back said,
“Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they’re yours.”
This dentist refused to argue for his limitations, and his courage altered his trajectory in life forever.
He grew up in a working-class family in Alberta, Canada. The long winters might have contributed to his parents’ ongoing overconsumption of alcohol.
As the oldest child, he carried the family’s financial burden early on.
After attending high school during the day, he worked as a janitor in a dental building in the evening.
Every night while cleaning the dental offices, he would admire the dental diploma frames on the walls.
Some days he would wallow in a dream, “Would it be nice if my name is on the wall?”
He even envisioned his name on one of the diplomas on the wall. Hey, didn’t people always say, with God, all things are possible?
He held on to the sweet thought and kept working every night.
One night, a dentist worked late and carried on a conversation with this young man.
The dentist was deeply touched by this young man’s passion for becoming a dentist, he persuaded two of his colleagues to support this young man’s dream.
They offered him free dental training in the late afternoons after school and before work, as an advantage to be accepted into a dental school.
Once he finished high school and was accepted by a dental school, the dentists collectively donated money to support his dream.
He eventually graduated as a top student in a dental school and became a sought-after orthodontist.
When I met him, his mission was to help more underprivileged young people to attend dental schools.
How many times do we spend more time arguing why we cannot do, instead of figuring out how we can do it?
Each time when I hesitate to move forward with something I desire, I’m arguing for my limits.
I remember when a lady in my speech club encouraged me to start a blog site and write regularly to improve my speeches, I thought she was crazy!
I hadn’t written for years, and I was tech challenged to set up a blog site.
I even discouraged myself by saying, “Oh, what am I going to write about? Who’s going to read my blogs?”
Then I remembered this dentist’s story!
If he would have argued with his limits, would he become a dentist?
I often affirmed with one of my favorite Bible verses, “God is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within me (Ephesians 3:20).”
I finally stopped arguing with myself about my limits and took a leap of faith. If I wanted to leave my footprints, take action!
Here was my best investment in the 2020 lockdown. I took writing courses, wrote articles, set up my blog site, and began publishing my stories.
What did I discover on my journey? The Universe always has my back, plus more self-confidence with improved public speaking, which is priceless!
The next time when you want to try something, would you stop arguing about your limits and just go with it?