Address to the Nation: Endure to Achieve

In life, we’re always going to hit obstacles, we’re always going to be in that position where we endure something. Where we’ll have to endure an attack, endure pain, endure a job loss, endure being in the wrong place of work. We’ll endure being on a team where we don’t feel like we’re utilized the way that we should be, endure being in a slump. There are endless situations we endure, and we just hold on.

We have to have our shield up and we have to endure the attack of the enemy. At some point, we need to change from just enduring to achieving. Where we go from being on the defense of just sitting there, making sure we don’t lose any ground, to actually taking ground. Because if we never take ground we’ll sit in the same spot.

You can endure one thing to the next and the next, and that’s noble. But it’s another thing to step up. To remove your shield, get away from behind it and step forward, and to achieve and to step out and go for the attack, and to go for the offense. To push and to strive and to go for that next level. To take another step forward.

So, I don’t know what situation you’re in now. Maybe you’re enduring the pain of a lost one. Maybe you’re enduring the pain of just everyday life. But take that endurance, don’t waste it, and start achieving. Start excelling. Start pushing. Start pushing against the enemy lines. Start pushing and attacking.

I can use the analogy of playing in a hockey game. The team, they’ve got their juice going. You’re in the second period and you’re up by a goal or two and you’re attacking and attacking, and sometimes you’ve just got to hold the house, keep the puck on the outside. But at some point, you can’t just do that for the rest of the game or your defenses will fall.

You can endure for so long until it just beats you to death. But at some point, you must attack. You must move forward. And that’s what I want to encourage you to do today. If you’ve been enduring something for so long, I’m proud of you, but take that endurance and start attacking. Start pushing forward. Start taking the ground that belongs to you.

Because if you sit back, you can never move forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

— JFK