The end completes the means

Look At The Big Picture

There's a popular quote by William Shakespeare "all's well that ends well". Often, this quote draws my attention to how emphasis is placed on the 'end of a thing' with very little or no attention to the 'means of coming to that end'. This observation made me come to a conclusion that success in life is usually judged on achievement. I am certain many of you would relate to following scenario. You wanted to achieved something so bad, you went to the extent of planning how you intend to reach it, only to be stuck with no action taken. Some times too, you take action but your efforts do not produce the desired results. Eventually you have a dream but nothing to show for it. In other words you failed. I am not writing this to remind you of your failures. Rather, I want to encourage you and present you with a bigger picture. Instead of thinking the end justifying the means, why not think of it as the end completing the means?

Embrace Your Failures: They Are The Stepping Stones To Your Success

You will fail at something. Accept it. You will fail at some point. Accept that too. The road to #success is not a straight road. You will most certainly come across barriers. Challenges are part of every success story. Accept it. You will probably have one episode of failure after another (and another). Accept it! What is most important is what you do after every episode of failure. Do you give up? Or do you draw lessons and move on? You see, apparently the difference between a hero and the villain is that the hero usually holds on to the fight for more second. If he didn't, he wouldn't be so-called. Don't give up easily, for your success is only one second away from your failure. And if the quote at the beginning of this writeup is anything to go by, then until it ends well, it's not the end!

The Sports Analogy

Consider a sports team or a sport personality. Have you realized that regardless of how many unbeaten runs they go or their number of winning streak, they are heavily criticized and judged if they lost once? Fans would criticize, pundits would ask questions and opposition would make merry and even mock them. Individual sports men and women also go through similar experience. They might be on top of their game but one game goes bad and trust me, all hell will break lose. This is the reality of life. As humans, we can be very forgetful of the means towards a goal given that we always have the end in mind. When a team wins, they are the best of teams, but when they lose even one game, suddenly it's as if their previous achievements are forgotten. The team once referred as the best is no more, just because they failed this once. So what happens? In most cases, great teams/sports men and women would bounce back from the defeat. They acknowledge that defeats are part of the game; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. They don't give up. They don't quit. They remember their previous successes and encourage themselves to do better. They celebrate what they've been able to achieve so far hoping to go all the way out to achieve the ultimate. On the contrary, weak teams/sports men and women give in to slightest defeat. They allow themselves to be dissolved into thinking that that failure is fatal. It's the end. There's no coming back. And guess what, truly they go on to lose game after game until finally the ultimate goal is far from reach. An observer may conclude that the team which managed to achieve the ultimate goal is successful and the other, a failure. But what would have been forgotten is that the team which is being regarded to have failed was once winning until something went wrong. Their end is thus not a justification for the means but rather a completion thereof.

Putting All Together

So what message am I trying to convey? The answer to that question is don't look at any episode of failure in your success journey as fatal but consider it as channel to reach your final destination. You may be a winner today but remember tomorrow you might lose. Maybe you are a loser today, but remember tomorrow you might win. What really matters in all of these is how you maintain your focus, never losing hope and striving for best. What is the point if all through your journey you're winner but end up a loser? And what would you say if all through life you're a loser and end up a winner? I'll reiterate my point again: the end completes the means. So look at the big picture and at every stop of the way, take some time to celebrate yourself for you have made progress even if you have not reached your destination yet. In addition, I want to admonish you to be careful not to do things to please humans but only God. And when we do so, do them with all our being and expect no reward whatsoever. That is where, when we start gaining we will forever be grateful. And when our reward is not due yet we shall not be disappointed or lose hope.

5 Food For Thought

1. In your quest for success enjoy the little achievements every step of the way.
2. Do not ignore feedback.
3. Keep at your dreams and never give up on them.
4. When you fail, celebrate it as lesson learned.
5. Always bear in mind that the end completes the means.

Photo : Sent to me by a good friend.