Donestock Store

In my life, certain words people use have spurred me forward more strongly, and these would be the words 'Can't' and 'No'. 'Can't' implies impossibility and 'No' reveals an unwillingness to venture. Now, there are things in life which for one reason or another become undoable, but without trying, one may never know. My entire 12 years in Japan ran against the advice of every single person I knew. Not one person ever emerged in my life that advocated me being in Japan. The truth be told, my entire adult life has been altered and framed by this experience. Yet, whenever I hear negative words, they amuse me on the surface, and cause a pit in my stomach on the other because I have always tried to weigh all factors before making a decision. I believe when people tell you not to even try, they are speaking, lacking your personal experience. To achieve something with no effort is uneventful, but to achieve nothing after having given it your all will bring satisfaction, if not in this life, than in the next. My life has seen me put tremendous effort into projects, many of them leading down roads to nowhere. Such is life. Then, a light appears, and if you follow it without fail it will lead to something far greater than could have been imagined. The test for me has been to focus all of the energy I receive from others, good or bad, and channel it to moving forward, always ahead, on the march. Often in life, we are confronted with a challenge to our goals. I think the greatest threat to one's dreams is telling them they cannot reach that dream, or even worse, it is not even worth their time to think about it. It, for all intents and purposes, pulls the rug from out under a person's being, their soul, and forces them to needlessly work twice as hard to prove they can, when your helping hand and encouragement may have added true value and meaning. Too many of us get locked into a world of anger at others, seeing differences of opinion as an affront rather than a lesson in civility. When two people disagree without being disagreeable, they have a better chance of forming a great relationship with each other. I hope I can be that can-do person for our community.