I watched a video of Denzel Washington making an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony, and there was a line that stuck with me. He said: Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship. If you’re on Facebook, you can watch the video here. He knew it was an important statement, he said it twice in case you missed it the first time.
Think about it. When things are easy, we don’t feel the need for change. We get comfortable. I’m sure it’s where the saying if it ain’t broke don’t fix it came from! Easy doesn’t seem to last very long though does it? There’s always something that happens that shakes things up and demands that we do things differently.
We can choose to stay uncomfortably comfortable. That is a choice that many of us make. When that stops working for us, we have to challenge ourselves to find a better way. Hardship leads to progress in a way that ease cannot.
Difficult times challenge us to do things that we’ve never done before. We have to get uncomfortable. Progress isn’t easy. It takes time, commitment and persistence. We have to remember this when times get tough. When we’re tempted to give up on our goals because things seem too hard, it’s important to keep Denzel’s words of wisdom in mind.
It can be easy to see the challenges as a sign that whatever you’re pursing isn’t meant to be. The ease of the path is not an indication of whether or not your goal will become a reality, your willingness to work though the rough patches is. There’s a reason why Napoleon Hill dedicates an entire chapter to persistence in his book Think and Grow Rich!
Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship. I think I’m going to print these words and post them on a wall where I’ll see it every day. There are going to be tough times in life. Regardless of how ambitious your aspirations are, there are going to be challenges and obstacles along the way. Don’t forget Denzel’s words when you encounter the rough patches.
I’ve said before that I believe that hardship in the journey to make our goals a reality is simply a test of our desire to see the goal through to completion. You have to decide how badly you really want whatever it is your working towards. It’s the only way to make progress in your life! ♥