In some villages in Thailand, it is difficult to get even a base level of education. Many children want to learn, but the lack of trained teachers, books and even classrooms due to poverty and remoteness makes it extremely hard for village children to keep up with their city peers. When only one child in the whole village is accepted into a national university, it is cause for a huge celebration.
So when Aur’s student, who works for an NGO that supports many of these villages in Northern Thailand received a thank you letter from the village along with a picture of congratulations board for a student who had been accepted to university. On the board were the signatures of every child in the village. She felt overcome with emotions. It was just a few weeks before her resignation would take effect. She felt guilty for leaving the NGO.
The student called Aur to share her thoughts. She wanted to help people but felt it was time to move on. She said that she was afraid she wouldn’t have enough time to be able to help people after leaving the organization.
In Aur’s signature style, she reprimanded her student.
No one can say that they don’t have enough time to do something they want. In reality, when someone really wants something, they find the time and resources to do it. The problem is whether they truly want it. Or, is it something they only want, as long as it doesn’t require them to give up other things they want more. Like sleep. Relaxation time. Or the ability to not have to think a lot. Most people make excuses instead of results.
Aur told her student that, if she really wanted to help those people, no matter what it took, she would make sure she was able to do it. There would be no excuse of time.
The same lesson can be applied in any area of life. Do you want to be happy? Successful? Healthy? Rich?
Do you REALLY? Or do you just want to be able to work less? Many rich people work 18+ hours a day, 7 days a week, operating on less than 4 hours of sleep each night. They have to make decisions every day which affects the lives of potentially thousands of other people. Most of them diligently spend hours every day reading and studying, to constantly become smarter and more skillful. Rich people are formed from rich habits, they use every waking second as an opportunity to study, to learn, to work.
When you want something, anything, ask yourself: what are you doing to deserve what you want? If you want to be successful, what are you doing towards that? Is it a true want, or do you want other things more? Do you want to be healthy? Are you exercising every day and sticking to nutritious foods?
Or, like Aur’s student, do you want to help people? Then what have you done today to work towards that? If you really want it, use every opportunity and minute of your life to help others, even just those around you.
So…
Think about what you want. Make sure you really want it and understand what it means to have that. See the value of every moment in your life. Every waking second, you have the opportunity to work towards the thing that you want. Do you? If you really want it, you’ll get it.
That one child in the whole village got into university, even when he didn’t have a classroom to sit in or a book to study from because he was the one child that REALLY wanted it. If he can do it, so can you.