When There is Nothing You Can Do, There is Something You Can Do
3 min read“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving.” These were the words of Martin Luther King Jr. In the words of Coco Gauff, “If you can think it, you can do it. If you can dream it, you can do it. Just keep working hard. It won’t come easy, and it will seem impossible, but if you keep working hard, it will definitely happen.” Let’s reflect on the paradigm that there is something you can do to get ahead even when you feel there is nothing you can do.
Are you trapped in a situation of “where do I go from here?” Do you feel you’ve come to the end of the road, and there is nothing more you can do? Have you run out of ideas, and the only thing that you can see is giving up? As much as you may be in a situation that looks hopeless, the reality is that there is always a way where there seems to be no way and there is something else you can do even when it seems you’ve done all you can. Jimmy Carter once said, “You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.” When there is an internal drive to get going, many things fall into place. As Richard DeVos said, “Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.” That might have been why Demi Lovato counselled, “No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you’ll find the positive side of things.” However, as Asene Wenger said, “If you do not believe you can do it, then you have no chance at all.”
So, enhance your capacity to take another step even when it seems you have done all you can do. Reject the temptation to give up to the enticement of helplessness. As John Burroughs advised, “If you think you can do it, you can.” Ken Shamrock added, “Don’t let people make you afraid of taking chances in life. And if you fail, it’s no big deal. Get back up and fight through it and be successful again. If you did it once, you can do it again.” Don’t allow your senses or mind to build fences of limitations around you. As Arnold Schwarzenegger shared, “The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 per cent.” Simone Biles added this: “I would say to always follow your dream. And dream big because my whole career, including any of the things that I’ve accomplished, I never thought in a million years that I would be here. So it just proves that once you believe in yourself, and you put your mind to something, you can do it.” Never forget Harry Fosdick’s note: “Life asks not merely what you can do; it asks how much you can endure and not be spoiled.”
As you step out, be determined to do what you think you can not do, act when you feel there is nothing else to do, and keep going even when the road seems closed. Learn from Maryse Mizanin: “I just push away everything negative. Just do what you want to do and believe that you can do it and you will do it.”
__
Prof. (Engr.) Esang Esitikot is a professor of occupational health and safety, a COREN-registed chemical engineer, public affairs analyst, certified management consultant, World Safety Organization Ambassador, marriage counsellor, youth mentor, reviewer for some international research journals and volunteer lecturer at the Institute of Health, Safety, Security and Environment, University of Uyo. He works for an international oil company and can be contacted via 08035103559 (Whatsapp only)