Recently, I was demo-ing a house for a remodel. The house was built in the late 1700’s and it had a beautiful old brick hearth that had been covered over with new bricks in order to make it look more modern. Our goal was to take off the newer brick to see if we could restore the fireplace to its original glory. On a hot and humid day, it was hours of hard work using sledge hammers, crow bars, and a heavy jack hammer.
I was working with the co-founder of our company, someone I’ve learned a great deal from, not just about carpentry, but about life and I was having trouble removing a section of brick. I said, “I don’t think I can get this out.” Standing there with the very jack hammer I was hoping he would use on the brick, he said “I bet if you really want to, you could get it out.” He was silent after that, and the silence created in me a desire to push forward rather than back down. With newfound resolution, I finagled the brick out fairly quickly.
Nothing about that brick changed but my desire changed.
Desire creates clarity and I suddenly saw how to remove it. In all things, we must look inside ourselves and honestly determine whether our desire is enough to remove the dozens of bricks that don’t want to budge.
Pretty Good at Life 