Just Ask a Blade of Grass What It Takes to Break Through Becoming who you aspire to be is a journey through uncertainty that you will be repeatedly tempted to abandon. Don't.
By David Meltzer Edited by Dan Bova
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Life is a series of opportunities with some seemingly better than others. One of the things I stress is that in order to break through you have to be more interested than interesting and press and keep pressing everything to get the most out of the opportunities afforded to you.
For example, in my final year at Tulane University Law School, I had to make a choice: do I want a career in the courtroom or does my passion lie somewhere else? Either way, the decision I made would lead me down significantly different paths. When the opportunity arose to get involved with the Internet and an Internet business in its "pre-chasm" state (when only early adopters know of and use a product) I recognizes an opportunity to really be a part of something big.
Others weren't so sure.
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Skepticism and doubt emanated from everyone surrounding me, but I knew what the opportunity entailed and what the reward could be. It would have been easy for me to graduate law school, join a D.A's office and prosecute cases in a courtroom for years. That, for all intents and purposes, would have been the logical (read: safe) route. But I wanted more. I knew that a breakthrough in the budding field of technology was about to happen, and I bet on myself and the abundance of the universe that it would work out. Subconsciously, back then, I trusted things would happen in the right way at the perfect time.
And, sure, enough, it did. Although not technically seen as such, Westlaw providing online legal information was among the first successful "internet" businesses with one of the Internet's first search engines. During my seven years there, West grew to a $17 billion dollar company in gross revenues, clearly proving that the Internet was not a fad.
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Again, I could have easily listened to those who truly loved me, but as hard as I knew it would be, I also knew what was best for me. An analogy I like is a blade of grass pushing through the soil to enjoy everything the sun has to offer. The fragile bit of grass is beneath tons of soil and stone. It doesn't know if it is getting nearer to the surface and the sun, it only knows the direction it must keep pushing. Not until the instant it breaks through the cold soil into the light does does it know the effort will be rewarded. A blade of grass, of course, doesn't suffer from the doubt and second thoughts that make our path seem harder as we get closer to our objective. In fact, so many times when we are just about to succeed and grow free in the light is when we quit because the dirt is just too hard.
That isn't what you want to do.
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In order to break through and become the person you want to become, you have to weather the layers of uncertainty and get through the "rocks" of life. Bet on yourself and the abundance of the universe with confidence knowing that when all is said and done everything the "Sun" or "light" has to offer will be worth the effort and trials. Everything will come in the right way at the perfect time … just don't quit.
