How many of us have ever found motivation from frustration? Have you ever been motivated by difficulty in reaching a goal, obtaining a level of achievement or making something happen when it feels like you don’t have much of anything to make it with. Has failure ever motivated you to the place where you say this will be the last time I find myself in this situation?
My most recent motivation came from my seven year old daughter. I wish I could say that it came from watching her do something amazing or seeing her not give up. Those are always great moments that motivate me to do and be better. Unfortunately, not this time. I was picking her up from after care along with my two five year old sons. She came running to the car with an amazing amount of excitement and I begin to think, boy she has been in there having fun!! She runs up to the passenger side but today she didn’t reach for the back door to get in. She says, “Daddy, Daddy you have to come inside the school for the Winter festival!!” At that moment I’m thinking, “OH NO, What did I miss?” Knowing that this is about to be a hard conversation I reply, “baby we can’t, I have to go back to work.”
So far there are two dilemmas. The first, not knowing this winter festival is taking place because I didn’t read through all of the teacher’s communications. The second is that my daughter really wants me to attend this event but I’m on the particular day I am scheduled to work the late shift even though I have been working since 8am to catch up on unfinished assignments and to meet fast approaching deadlines.
So my baby girl who sometimes will make it known she is upset and sad breaks down to cry. Not an “I am mad” kind of cry. But a “This is the most disappointing thing ever” kind of cry. My heart is pierced to the point that if I wasn’t a grown man I would have cried with her. I immediately become angry that I haven’t “made it” yet. I become angry because I have been exposed to opportunities that if I had worked and pushed years ago I would be financially free by now. I become angry because my job, as important as, it is should not be putting my in a position to chose an income over my children. Not in 2018 when people are making six figures in their 20’s. I became so angry that I became motivated. You see she cried until I promised her Chinese food and a bag of takis.
You see, as I begin to promise her some of her favorite things. I began to promise myself some things too. I promised myself that I would not stop building my own business until it is a business that will provide for them what my kids need. That it will produce the type of residual income that will afford me options. The Word of God says in Ecclesiastes 10:19 “A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry and money answers all things.” You see money unlocks options. It provides opportunities and choices for us. Its the difference of where you get your education, how you spend your time and who you spend it with. It can determine how you can get out of your normal routine and rest or if you have to work 2-3 jobs to make it. I’ve pulled countless double shifts, stayed in terrible hotels, hoped for a ride to come and the “friend” never showed up. My father and mother are the hardest working people I know. But they taught me to get hired on a job, pay the bills, take two weekend trips a year, then rinse and repeat. I have no desire to leave my children with the burden of being routed and steered by society. Neither would I have them facing road blocks, rejected credit and a limitation of resources because I refused to exist outside of the box that I have grown up to know. I desire to leave them with a way to fund their dreams and a way to finance the cost of their goals. Sometimes we are waiting for a miracle after God has given us a resource to produce right here in our hands and our minds.
My daughter’s tears became another motivator for me to be better and to do better. My daughter’s tears have motivated me to revisit my dreams and push for them. They motivate me to build and work more intensely in ministry and for my community for the children who don’t have the parents that say “Baby everything’s going to be alright!”
Be motivated, stay encouraged and know that anything is possible. Nothing worth building is built overnight. It may take all you’ve got to build it but build it none the less. Build your Church, build your marriage, build your business, build relationships. Build yourself until you can look at your life and know you’ve given God and the people he has entrusted you to impact all you were meant to give.
Aquila T Carmon
Hope Builds Legacy 