Bloom where you are planted

Often I would comment on the fact that if I were born with more money and if I had gone to a better school, I would achieve more, faster. I have rich friends who I feel have so many opportunities they don't explore because - I don't know. I sometimes think that, if I were in their place, I would do so much with the resources available to that position.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing myself to them (vis a vis who is better) nor do I feel bad about where I am in my life. In fact, I'm extremely pleased with my trajectory and pace at the moment. I'm now thinking beyond what I thought I was capable of before, and I'm making solid steps in that direction.

This is what I'm saying: some people have more than others, but no one is left with completely nothing. We all have a unique set of resources, skills, support, drive, passion, and ambition. It's up to us to know what they are exactly and how to use them to our best advantage. 

It's easy to whine about not getting what we want because we just can't, to stop there, and keep on being miserable. But think of it this way. Imagine yourself being marooned in an island with your ship smashed on the rocks. Will you just lie down in the sand and die? Of course not. You have to survive. To survive, you need to make an inventory of what you have that you can use. Maybe you've got a knife. Some rope. An almost empty canteen. You go into the forest and you will maybe find a pile of rocks that can provide shelter. Maybe you'll eventually build a boat to leave the island. Maybe you will succeed. Maybe you'll just die there of disease and starvation.

Still you tried your best. Effort, no matter how futile it is in the end, is never wasted. Don't give up even if it seems impossible to go on.