There must be opposition in all things.
Opposition is there to show us the differences in life and help us know good things from bad things. The word opposition always makes me think of opposites. When I study any topic I always look at its opposite. It is very powerful to take an idea or topic and get clear on definitions and then to look at their opposite. It helps when you try articulating ideas or concepts to people when you can share definitions and do comparisons with opposites. So I like opposition in study. But opposition in our lives is a different animal. My good buddy Coby Tippetts brought up a good concept to keep in mind when it comes to opposition that is: “The last 200 feet is the hardest.”
Napolean Hill articulated this same concept in his book ‘Think and Grow Rich‘ in there he tells the story of a man who quit drilling for oil literally feet within strinking a huge deposit. He goes on to say that a lot of our problems are never overcome because we quit just before we are about to have success. I put it this way “The breaking point breaks us.” Opposition is a tool for our personal development. Those who desire to be successful will have to go beyond the breaking point if the success they seek is to be realized.
This gets tricky because sometimes we doubt ourselves and think ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be trying to do this, maybe I’m only meant to do that.’ We can sometimes confuse our doubts for inspiration that we should quit, when our success or our victory is only 200 feet away. I love Coby’s idea because 200 feet is not very much to travel even on foot, but the last 200 feet is the difference maker.
So I declare that I, and we, should not doubt and should not fear if we keep pressing forward we may not achieve our original objective (although usually we will) but a new, more rewarding objective may result if we persist.
Are you 200 feet away from glory?
Stay tuned as I’m certain more on this topic will come.
Update: Coby discussing similar idea @ http://tinyurl.com/5vuxk7
J.R. Farr says,
Great post Aaron.
I definitely like Coby’s analogy with the 200 feet. When you are able to visualize something so big with something so simple it really puts things into perspective.
I read a book called “The Dip” by Seth Godin that discusses this very thing. Sometimes you get stuck in the dip and you need to decided whether to move forward to get over the hump or cut your lossed and move on.
Again, great post and I’ll be using Coby’s analogy in the future.
J.R. Farr
on October 30, 2008
Matt Morris says,
Dude, you always have an amazing way of phrasing eternal principles, that stick with you for a long time after reading them.
on October 31, 2008