If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple tree or an oak. Shall he turn his spring into summer?
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
Category: VOCATION
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He told me, with the utmost simplicity and truth, quite superior, or rather inferior, to anything that is called humility, that he was “deficient in intellect.” These were his words. The Lord had made him so, yet he supposed the Lord cared as much for him as for another. “I have always been so,” said he, “from my childhood; I never had much mind; I was not like other children; I am weak in the head. It was the Lord’s will, I suppose.”
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau -
The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping, and not feel lonesome, because he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can “see the folks,” and recreate, and, as he thinks, remunerate himself for his day’s solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and “the blues”; but he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is still at work in his field, and chopping in his woods, as the farmer in his, and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does, though it may be a more condensed form of it.
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau -
I would not have any one adopt my mode of living on any account; for, beside that before he has fairly learned it I may have found out another for myself, I desire that there may be as many different persons in the world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his father’s or his mother’s or his neighbor’s instead.
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau -
Others fear failure:
Whenever such a person thinks of doing some business, he fears it may fail or face hindrances, plotting of competitors, or dishonesty of partners. If he is poor he fears becoming needy, and if rich fears robbery, and in all cases he keeps afraid.
Some people fear dangers.
If such a person takes an aeroplane he fears some calamity would happen, and he remembers such things published in newspapers. In any means of transportation he is in fear of accidents. All dark memories come to his mind in this respect and this makes him always afraid.
There is a type of people who fear their own weakness.
Such person fears his inability, his forgetfulness, his weakness before the power of his competitors or adversaries, and his inability to withstand. This makes him lose his self-confidence, the spirit of bravery, and the power to take an initiative. The image of inability and failure is always before his eyes. He even fears sin and feels unable to resist it.
Such fear causes a person confusion, disturbance and trouble, and may paralyze his ability to work.
It will have a bad effect on his soul and nerves. Fear will appear on his features, on his looks, on his voice and on his movements. He will tremble, become pale, and his heart beats increase. Everybody will see his fear which appears in his behavior, his hesitation, his inability to take decisions, and his seeking protection.
Fear may lead some to dejection. They put before them the words, “anyone who finds me will kill me.” (Gen 4: 4). A spiritual person, on the other hand, does not fear, but peace reigns over his heart, giving him confidence.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Fruits of the Spirit
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The more you have a clear goal, the more you are settled and balanced.
The brain functions the best when there is a goal that the person is pursuing. The higher the goal, the more positive the emotions.
