I’ve just realized I’ve been SO wrong. I once heard what I thought was one of the GREATEST sayings ever, “First Deserve, Then Desire”. After hearing that, I truly believed that before you should desire anything, you should first believe that you deserve it. It became a motto of mine that I used to teach others. When I was in control of peoples raises, I would use this phrase often to explain my position on who did or did not get raises. It was a motto of mine to get my employees to work harder, and it worked. By explaining that raises were given on what skills you had and their importance to the team, they knew they had to continuously be learning new things and getting faster at their jobs, or their worth would not increase and they would not get a raise. It worked very well in part because I was willing to teach them if they were really interested in gaining more knowledge. My common sense justification was, “Why should I give anyone a raise year after year if they were not getting more productive year after year?” That is where, “First Deserve, Then Desire.” came to be what was expected.
Recently though, something has changed…I still believe in the saying, but only partially. I heard the other week that the word “Desire” comes from the root definition meaning “of the father”, or in other words, God. If desire is truly given to us by God to motivate us, then to desire is good. It’s what we should be looking into ourselves for. I believe that each of us are driven by our desires, and the stronger our desires, the stronger our motivation to acquire our desires will become. In some cases, it’s called “Vision”, in others it becomes their purpose. Whatever the reason we have them, it’s what makes the human race develop.
What are your deepest desires? I suggest spending a little time today and write down ALL of your desires. Circle the top five desires and make a decision to focus on how you can achieve them. Most of my desires seem outrageous, even to me. But if I believe that God is all knowing and all powerful and that he gave me those desires, then I believe he also gave me the ability to acquire what I desire. I’ve seen truly unbelievable miracles happen in my life when I’ve focused on getting something in the past. It’s time to get myself in gear and go after the REALLY big desires of my life… Having desires that will help others live better lives, gives my life purpose. But here’s the coolest thing…if i strive to do great things that will help others live better lives and have less suffering, it doesn’t hurt anyone if I fail. All it can really do is make me wiser. I can’t “really” fail unless I die and can’t try again. As long as I am capable, I haven’t failed yet. A setback will only make the “next time” easier.