In third grade, I took a math test. I wasn’t a child prodigy, but I was one
of a handful of students who tested into a slightly more advanced math
class. While the rest of the students stayed in the room, we went off to
learn at a higher rate. We focused most on probability. The first question
our designated teacher asked was what were the odds of winning the lottery.
None of us knew the answer of course, nor were we expected to. It was just
to get us warmed up to the basic concepts. I don’t remember the numbers
people say, but the truth is that the chances are actually a hundred
percent. Hi, my name is Arnie Arnoldson, and I’m about to die. But
before I go, I’m gonna explain to you what I mean. The reason my answer
works out is because each and every one of you has already won the lottery.
The chances that the universe would exist were profoundly low. The chances
that life would exist were profoundly low. The chances that any given person
will be born to this world are low. You went through so much to get here
even before you were alive to do anything on purpose. That’s amazing.
You’re
amazing, and I want you all to give yourselves a round of applause for
making it this far, because as I’ve said, it was virtually impossible, yet
you did it anyway. You know, I didn’t start out as a motivational speaker. I
was just a wee li’le baby, like anyone else. What I did to get to this place
in my life is I kept playing the lottery. Sometimes I won the pot, but I
never truly lost, because at the very least, it was experience, which helped
me play the next round. Because life isn’t really like a lottery, it’s hard
work. Put in your time, day after day, and I promise you, no matter what, at
the end of the week, you’ll be paid fairly.
Notice how I said that you’ll be paid weekly. This is important, because if
you expect that paycheck every day, six times out of seven, you’ll be
disappointed. As a result, you’ll stop working as hard, and you’ll start
getting paid less, and that will make you even more discouraged. We
all receive what we deserve. It may not feel like it, but that just means
that you need to manage your expectations, work harder, and never give up.
Say it with me, manage your expectations, work harder, never give up. That
is your new philosophy. Whenever you’re down, or you think you have done
nothing but lose, just ignore all that, and remind yourself that there is
always time to turn things around. But you have to take charge of
your life, and decide that you’re not satisfied with what you have right
now. No one else can do that for you. Let me tell you a story about the moth
in the pond. A moth fell into a pond, but he didn’t die. He had spent his
whole life fluttering through the air, and landing on leaves, but now he
realized that those same wings he used to balance himself and fly were also
good for swimming. This opened up a whole new world to him. So he said to
himself,
I’m never going to fly again. I prefer to swim. I’m a swimmer now. He
smiled—insomuch as a moth can smile—and continued to swim around, looking
for food. But he could not find the fruits and flowers he normally drank
from. Oh, the moth realized,
now I know why we moths don’t usually swim. And so the moth summoned
all of his might to get back into the air, but he quickly discovered that
his wings were too heavy, weighted down by the water. Try as he would, all
he could do was swim. He swam until he was too exhausted, but before he
could drown, the hand of a human reached underneath, and raised him from
perdition. All of you are that moth, and the water is every obstacle you
face; past, present, and future. I am the hand.
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