My struggle with rheumatoid arthritis has been the worst physical thing that has happened in my life so far. However, this pain gives me a reason to work harder towards my future.
To be honest, I haven’t spoken much about my condition except for with people who are close to me. Sometimes the topic comes up if someone happens to squeeze my hand too hard. I just haven’t felt the need to announce to the world that I have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 10 years old. Other people should not view me as weak. Ever since I was diagnosed I have pretended like it wasn’t there. All I really wanted to do was fit in with others as much as possible. I told myself to work harder AND so I did. All I really wanted was to be seen as normal. But there is not such a thing as normal. I realized that rheumatoid arthritis is the extra bit of abnormal which gave me the ability to be extraordinary.
My Predicament
Even more so I wanted to continue doing things I love. Especially because having rheumatoid arthritis has been proven to shorten your lifespan by as much as 10-15 years.
So you can see my predicament. I know there are many worse conditions out there than rheumatoid arthritis. Things that will kill you in a week or less. But to me, 10-15 years off my life is a long time. I want to accomplish a lot in this lifetime. So I need to be able to use every moment I have to make a difference in other people’s lives. Also considering that if my condition grows out of control then I will be crippled. At least I’ll still have my brain.
Even though death is calling on me I still truck on. Death calls for everyone, but the key to defeating death is by creating a legacy around who you are and what you create in this world. The only way to create a name for yourself in this world is to set your smart goals and work harder to achieve them. Work the hardest you can every day of your life not because you have to but because you believe in what you’re doing.
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Work Harder! What do you want your legacy to be?
Most of you reading this now are fairly young. You all come from different backgrounds. Some of you have gone through university and a few are just high school graduates. No matter where you come from in your life or how old you are now each of you also has a date floating over your head. The date above your head is your death date. It’s the blunt truth. I’m not trying to freak you out here. But each of you also has what some people call ‘a calling’ or what I call a purpose.
If you haven’t already found your purpose there isn’t really an easy way to do it except for actually searching for it. This could be done through working many jobs until you find one which calls to your heart. Or it could be traveling. The most important thing is that you’re experimenting with your interests. Below is a summary of how I found my purpose.
How I found mine
In the next few paragraphs, I’ll explain how I came to find my purpose just as an example which might help you. It started when I was a kid actually, but that would be too long of a story to tell here. So I’ll tell you the bones of it. In 2015 after two years of being married, my wife encouraged me to start building a business. At the time I was quite lazy but eventually, after months of encouragement, I decided to go to the bookstore and buy a business book. I had no idea where to start with business so I figured the best action would be to start studying about it.
After reading my first business book I could not get enough of reading and soaking in the information from books so I kept on buying them. I also started writing reviews of the books I was reading on a free blog which eventually turned into this one. I wanted to work harder on these blog posts so I could tell people how much of a difference reading had made in my life. Because of the encouragement from my wife, reading and taking actions, I became more motivated in everyday life. New ideas started popping up in my mind. Reading books gave me a purpose to never stop learning and work harder towards achieving my goals.
I then thought my blog would be a great thing to turn into a business. So I contacted a web developer and drafted out the concept for this website at the end of 2017. I started doing public speaking events, workshops, and personal development coaching online which has been a great growing experience for my clients and me. I see this business going very far in changing lives. No matter what happens I will continue to work harder so that I can turn this into my legacy. It may be small now, but ten years from now this site might be a behemoth!
Until Recently…
I didn’t really start to work harder and realize that life is extremely short until I found my purpose. At first, it freaked me out thinking about death and the fact that I might die earlier because of my condition. By thinking too much about death it will only make my situation deteriorate. I haven’t let anything from my past, rheumatoid arthritis among many, hold me back from pushing forward. Best of all, I have learned to appreciate the time I do have.
I also do NOT dwell on the fact my life might be shorter because dwelling will not get you anywhere in life. What I DO do is work harder so that I can make an improvement in your life. I search for people who are lost or stuck and give them the opportunity to become the best they can be through self-development. Life is too short to be selfish. Now is better than any other time to be selfless.
Ask Yourself This
Seriously consider these questions below, write your answers down in a notebook or word document. Some of these answers you’ll have to write about every day. Then apply your answers in your life so you can achieve more and build a lasting legacy.
- What huge legacy would I like to leave behind after I’m gone?
- If I don’t know what legacy I want to leave behind what steps can I take to figure it out?
- What small goals can I achieve every day to bring me closer to my huge legacy?
If the questions above are not clear to you at this moment you may need to do some experimentation on your own. Life is a journey, and each of our purposes are different. Yours is not the same as mine. Yours could be similar to mine but it’s not exactly the same.
Death is coming for all of us. It’s up to you about how you choose to use the time you do have. Take the time to work harder on the three questions I asked above, apply them in your life so you can leave a legacy. Start Now!
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