Certainty

By Jeff Kinch

I have never been (overly) jealous of those who’ve accumulated or accomplished more. Since I was young, however, I’ve been envious of those that had an unyielding sense of what they wanted or wanted to be. I’m not referring to an 8 year old who wants to play in the NFL, or a 12 year old who fleetingly wants to be a rock star – but those who seem to have acquired a glimpse of their future and are not willing to bend until that future is their reality.

During the summers in my university years I worked in a bar and there was a bartender there I had known for years. He had been an accomplished soccer player and a classic overachiever all his life. He was approaching 30 and while his peers were furthering their careers he was (seemingly) toiling away in a dead-end job. The reason: he hadn’t been accepted to medical school. Yet. The entire time he was taking courses, doing volunteer work at hospitals and preparing for his next career. Every time I witnessed someone give him a hard time about moving on or choosing a different path his reaction was akin to if someone had belittled him for continuing to breathe or eat. There was no other option. If he was 50 years old by the time he was accepted he would simply be the “old guy in class”. I admired his conviction but even more so I felt jealous that he possessed such certainty about what he wanted to be.

With that certainty and the clarity of knowing what you want the rest is simple (if not easy). The commitment required, the creativity needed, the persistence demanded seems to be a natural byproduct of having that sense.

I think some are fortunate in that knowing what they want their path to be comes naturally to them; a gift. For others, most even, finding that path is the most formidable challenge they face. Once you find your calling the rest will fall in place – not that it will come easily to you but the traits needed to achieve the objective will reveal themselves and you’re left merely to harness them.