“All successful individuals have become such by hard work; by improving moments before they pass into hours, and hours that other people may occupy in the pursuit of pleasure. They spend no time in sheer idleness, in talking when they have nothing to say, in building air-castles or floating off on the wings of sense: all of which drop human life into the ditch of nonsense, and worse than waste its years.”
“Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.”
~ Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings, p. 230
Wow..beautiful
So well said. Anything can be achieved with hard work and with improving our time, moment to moment, without any wastage of time in non productive activities, as Mrs. Eddy says.
I remember when I was doing my L.LB i.e. a graduation degree in Law, I had not attended a single lecture in college, because my mom had taken very ill and I needed to attend to her. Moreover, I was a working girl and had to manage with a months leave from office, to cover up volumes of reading and studies. I had to really work very hard and devoted every moment sincerely and lovingly to my studies. Required discipline, patience, persistence on my part. Here I would like to share a few lines of an article on “EXAMS” from a Christian Science Periodical, shared by a friend. This was indeed very helpful to me. Later on this was shared with many, who appeared for exams and has helped everyone. Quote: “Humbly strive to know and demonstrate that man is not a physical mortal struggling alone with an inadequate human brain, but that man is really God’s child the idea of Mind, inseparable from Him. Man has therefore all the wisdom he needs. Our conviction of this great fact grows step by step as we humbly trust in God to guide us in all that we do. Exams change our attitude from boring, difficult, fearsome task to viewing it as an opportunity to express God derived qualities such as patience, thoroughness and insight. “Unquote. I was the only student in my batch to clear all the subjects in L.LB. This was due to sheer hard work – moment to moment and prayers.
Thanks to Evan for these daily boosters on his blog. You have encouraged me today to work hard on my driving skills, to become a good and confident driver.
Some how this writing hadn’t stuck with me, but very nice to see it now. And thanks to you Nergish for sharing your experience using this spiritual idea in you daily demonstration.
Thank you Evan and Nergish – these thoughts are timely for the day!
Thank you very much Evan, and thank you Nergish!
They are all helpful thoughts and experiences.
Whenever I read or hear the word “Success” my mind wants to immediately think of worldly success. Although this should become easier to accomplish as a Christian Scientist with all the knowledge we have at our disposal to apply towards material comfort, I remind myself true success is what I have attained that is immortal. So…. while others may judge me when I sit quietly in prayer and contemplation thinking this is idleness, it is actually a very intense form of work and will bring the only form of success I care to have. For as we deepen our understanding of God all else will be added.
Maximo you sure turned the meaning of success on it’s head, and with clarity. What others think of us is of no concern; what God knows about us can make us understand how we succeed. Thank you so much.
Thanks so much, Nergish, for sharing your experience. What a beautiful demonstration! You could not suffer from lovingly attending to your mother’s needs.
Thank you
Thank you Evan and Nergish for sharing your thoughts. I am indeed blessed by Nergish’s experience – and well done for succeeding with your qualification.
Experiences like these always remind me that God loves each and everyone of us and He wants to guard us, guide us and enable us in our lives. We just have to ask Him and then allow Him – and be alert to Him when He answers.
thank you Craig for your very true and helpful second paragraph!
Thanks. I especially enjoyed what you had to say Nergish. I hope to forward this to my grand daughter. She is in her 2nd year of college. She came home because of an illness . Studying and being absent from school has to be very challenging . She is also on a rowing scholarship which requires physical stamina and strength. This is very troubling as well. I want to be as helpful as I can by seeing her correctly . I know that God will supply and meet all of her needs. God good guides,guards and governs.
Thank you Evan and those who responded, it is important to be reminded that while sitting quietly and not adding to the general chatter does not make me inferior but still part of the group of friends we are with.
Sally
Thank you Evan. In particular, I love the poem part of that quote. So true. Without Christian Science I could not have accomplished all I did while working full-time. Raising four involved-in-activities sons, packing lunches, cooking full breakfasts and dinners everyday, taking minutes at evening school board meetings, never seemed like a chore. It was a joy to do things for others. How can we be tired expressing God’s qualities. Everything always fell into place with no stress. Was easy to pray and express gratitude all day long.
Appreciated comments by Nergish and Maximo.