Last week I read this blog post, written by Cristian Mihai: 

““Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy —the joy of being Salvador Dalí— and I ask myself in rapture: What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?” – Salvador Dalí

You see, those who accomplish little in life will think that he became the Salvador Dali that everyone knew and could afford to make such statements… after all, you’d act that way too, right?

If you’d have the money, the respect, the talent, the appreciation of others…

Sorry to break it to you, but he became Dali because he thought like that. He thought like that about himself until the world gave him what he demanded of it.

Average wishes it were easy. Greatness enjoys it for being hard. Average thinks of all the reason why it won’t work. Greatness, of all the reasons it will. Average blames circumstances. Greatness creates circumstances. Average waits for the perfect opportunity. Greatness knows such a thing does not exist.

So, [nasty words directed at] average… procrastination… laziness… depression… anxiety… waiting… other people and what they think or say or do… fear.

Conquer yourself and you can conquer the world.

So, tell me, what prodigious thing will you do today?”

Now. There might be some things I don’t agree with about this post. For instance, maybe I wouldn’t direct the nasty words at “other people and what they say or do,” because sometimes “other people” are our family and friends and mentors and care an awful lot about us and have our interests at heart and the “prodigious things” we would do today might not be all that healthy for us, might actually cause us great damage. (You know many of the things that wound us are self-inflicted, right?) But I get the point. The “other people” he is referring to often have agendas and are driven by the fear that would paralyze us, too. They are paralyzed and wish the same for us. Negative Nelly’s, Debbie Downers, we all have them – we all have been them. 

Anyway, I loved the post. I love that Salvador Dalí experiences an exquisite joy at waking up to be Salvador Dalí and the promise of what he will create. I love all of the attributes given to Average. And I don’t get too twisted by what I could argue with that I miss what is important for me. Then, in the comment section, I read this, by Mr Wapojif (I don’t know what to say about this handle…): 

“Success also takes a great deal of luck. You need a variety of happy little accidents and coincidences to open doors for you, it’s not just about working your [rear end] off or being a genius. 

In England almost a quarter of the population lives in poverty. 14+ million people. The door is very firmly shut for them as the modern trend for inequality escalates rapidly.

Appreciate this post is about positivity and “get up and go”, by the harsh reality isn’t quite like this for tens of millions around the world. 

Perseverance is key, but there can reach a point where you’re deluding yourself.”

Many of this is also true, with some things I could argue with, as well. I find that’s the case for most things. I can love a song and hate the key change at the bridge or a choice of words. With the exception of the saxophone solo in INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart,” very little artistic expression is perfect. There has even probably been moments where you have disagreed with me in these posts or on Sunday mornings (gasp, nooooooo!!!) and that is ok. We can love each other deeply and hold each other’s hands and follow Jesus together and passionately disagree on my red shoes or the movies I like or my interpretation of the first 7 verses of Romans 13.   

There’s more to be said on these posts. (Next time, I am going to write a post on what success is and if it actually takes “a great deal of luck.”) But for now, I’ll let them sit and marinate in your head and your heart and begin a new post for later in the week on yesterday’s Riverboat and the chicken I had last night.