"If there is a will, there is a way."

"If there is  a will, there is a way."

I didn't really believe that saying growing up, but I think I misunderstood what it means. It's not saying we will always get our way. We already know that's not how the world works. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Okay, maybe most of the time, we don't get what we want. oh boo :(

Here's a story:

from outoftea.deviantart.com

One of my friends is looking for a part-time job while she waits for her VISA to study abroad. She has a little under 6 months to work. She told me it's impossible to find somewhere that allows her to only work for 6 months. It's simply not enough time, especially since she doesn't have any work experience and only just graduated from high school. She also has no transportation and can't get very far from home. 

I told her to go to the block of stores in our neighborhood and hand in a copy of her resume to every single store. Who cares if they're hiring or not. Go in and say, "Hi. I live around here. I'm looking for a short-term job. If you need help, I'd love to come. Here's my resume. Thanks." 

Don't worry. It's not a miracle story. I'm not going to tell you how she then got an amazing job offer at the local bakery. Actually, she never did it. She simply told me it was useless and ridiculous. Then she sat at home. 


"If you want it bad enough, there is always something more you can do to try to obtain that."

That's what the saying means. As long as you don't give up, there's always a way... to do more. No promises of miraculous happily ever after but hey, Edison tried over 10,000 time. Why can't you try more than once?

My mission president (that is, the director in charge over me during my mission) once showed me a movie called Quest for a Go-Getter.
It's a short story about a guy trying to get a job while just about everyone else in the movie tries to stop him. He tries again and again, always looking for more ways. At one point, he almost gave up, but then he remembers his military sergeant once said to him,"If you can overcome this, you can overcome anything life throws at you."

Believe in yourself. You can overcome this and you can overcome anything life can throw at you.


中文翻譯：皇天不負苦心人