Why Some People Fail

To start off, let me say that there are two types of perspectives in this world:

1. Centering one's life to get what they want

2. Centering one's life to want what they get

I know that may look like a small difference, but it's not. In fact it's huge. It's why many hard-working people fail in being happy. Let me show you some examples of why this is a critical problem.

Getting What You Want

This is the mere focus of the world, saying what life's all about. It's all about progressing and being successful. It's all about getting fancy cars, a nice home, and a handy little fortune. It's all about getting what you want. Now this may not be your primary focus in life. But for many of us, this is the message that the world teaches. And now it's ingrained in our minds: that changing what we have in order to satisfy our current wants is the key in life.

If we'd turn to some famous people that have got what they wanted in life, I think we would see that this isn't the answer. Take Chris Brown for example. He's a great singer. He has tons of fans. He's got a load of money to spend on whatever he wants. He must be one of the happiest people in the world. At least, that was the thought of the general population. Recently, however, he had that violent incident with the famous singer, Beyonce. Do you think that such a happy person would have that much anger to commit such a crime. Obviously we were wrong about Chris Brown.

This is just one of the many examples of famous, sucessful people who have not been happy with their life. The fact is, is that we don't understand these celebrities' point of view. Most of us will never understand it, as most people do not end up becoming famous celebrities.

Now again, I'm not saying that there aren't things that we may want that we should strive for. There are many things that are good to have, and we should try to accomplish those goals. I'm just saying that getting everything we want is not the gateway to the good life.

The New Outlook

I recently read a book by John Hersey called Hiroshima. It's a historical narrative about some of the Japanese who survived the dropping of the atomic bomb. It really shows the terrible effects of the bomb that lasted for years. Many of these survivors lost everything they had. But out of the midst of struggle and hardship, a handful of these survivors turned into happy people.

One of the real-life survivors, Mr. Tanimoto, was a pastor who did a lot of great things to help people remember about the bombs. In one of the sessions of Congress, he had the opportunity of giving the opening prayer. I'll never forget it. In one part of the prayer he said,

"We thank Thee, God, that Japan has been permitted to be one of the fortunate recipients of American generosity. We thank Thee that our perople have been given the gift of freedom enabling them to rise from the ashes of ruin and be reborn"

This is one of the great examples of wanting what we get. Do you think that the Japanese wanted to suffer death and destruction? Would anyone? Of course not. Even though this pastor had the right to cry and feel bad for himself for not getting what he wanted, he chose to see this as an opportunity. An opportunity to learn and grow. He changed what he wanted in order to want what he got.

It's hard in this world to see the truth. We are bombarded with false ideas every day, in movies, television, books, and in many other ways. But hopefully this article has helped you to see the light, the new outlook. Sometimes we are not given God-given talent to do everything we want to. The key is to accept the things that come in our way and use them for the better.