There’s a fine line between being indifferent with the state of things and using Reddit to express your every displeasure with all facets of life. In between is the discontentment you can use to light a fire under your productivity.

The key is to focus on the discontent with things that you can actually change. Get riled up about your programming environment and submit a patch. Become annoyed with how the text flows on your company homepage and rewrite it. Feel guilty about the UI of a common action in your application and redesign it.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
— Reinhold Niebuhr

When you find people who embrace this idea, you’ll usually find people with exactly the pointed drive that gives them the power to Get Things Done. Hire them.

To truly be inspired for great work, you need to know that you’re making a difference. That you’re putting a meaningful dent in the universe. That you’re part of something that’s making a difference and that your role in that something is significant.

This doesn’t have to be grand at all. You don’t have to be looking for the cure for cancer. It could be done by a waitress at a neighborhood cafe that’s the gathering point of local artists. The key is that your efforts would be missed, your customers would have a sense of loss, if you stopped doing what you’re doing.

If you’re void that sense of purpose, the pleasure in your work will eventually wane and ultimately feel hollow. I’ve lived that sensation more than once. Working with tools and techniques and even people that I enjoyed, but where the end did not justify the journey.

You can only hide in shadows of the circumstantial for so long before your passion begins to fade. You can only excuse your lack of impact on the world with “but it’s great money” or “at least we’re doing agile” or even “this way I get to use Rails” until the playlist of stories repeat and it just all sounds the same.

Remember that your time is limited. By the time you discover that you’ve been coasting on empty calories, the pale face staring you back in the mirror might be hard to recognize.

I remember waking up to such a face on day long ago and thinking “the world would have been no different if I had not been here the past six months”. That’s a terrible feeling of regret.

But the good story is that it’s never too late to do something about it. I’d give up a cozy working atmosphere and using tools I enjoyed if it meant having to do work that just didn’t matter. You should too.

The real tragedy is the tragedy of a man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort, who never stretches to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature. To lie down and moan and whine about limited opportunities is the part of weaklings. To grasp the opportunities at hand and walk forward is the way of the strong.

With eager heart and will on fire, 

I fought to win my great desire; 

"Peace shall be mine,'* I said; but life 

Grew bitter in the weary strife. 



My soul was tired, and my pride 

Was wounded deep; to Heaven I cried, 

"God grant me peace or I must die"; 

The dumb stars glittered no reply. 



Broken at last, I bowed my head. 

Forgetting all myself, and said, 

"Whatever comes. His will be done"; 

And in that moment peace was won. 

I might wish the world were better,

  I might sit around and sigh

For a water that is wetter

  And a bluer sort of sky.

There are times I think the weather

  Could be much improved upon,

But when taken altogether

  It's a good old world we're on.

I might tell how I would make it,

  But when I have had my say

It is still my job to take it

  As it is, from day to day.



I might wish that men were kinder,

  And less eager after gold;

I might wish that they were blinder

  To the faults they now behold.

And I'd try to make them gentle,

  And more tolerant in strife

And a bit more sentimental

  O'er the finer things of life.

But I am not here to make them,

  Or to work in human clay;

It is just my work to take them

  As they are from day to day.



Here's a world that suffers sorrow,

  Here are bitterness and pain,

And the joy we plan to-morrow

  May be ruined by the rain.

Here are hate and greed and badness,

  Here are love and friendship, too,

But the most of it is gladness

  When at last we've run it through.

Could we only understand it

  As we shall some distant day

We should see that He who planned it

  Knew our needs along the way.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

Great works are performed, not by strength but by perserverance.

There is a guiding hand above all things. Often when things happen, it’s not by accident. One day, when we look back at the seeming coincidences of our lives, we will realize that perhaps they weren’t so coincidental after all.

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater, 
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase; 
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy, 
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace. 

When we have exhausted our store of endurance, 
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, 
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources 
Our Father's full giving is only begun. 

His love has not limits, His grace has no measure, 
His power no boundary known unto men; 
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus 
He giveth, and giveth and giveth again. 

Love is like magic
And it always will be.
For love still remains
Life's sweet mystery!!

Love works in ways
That are wondrous and strange
And there's nothing in life
That love cannot change!!

Love can transform
The most commonplace
Into beauty and splendor
And sweetness and grace.

Love is unselfish,
Understanding and kind,
For it sees with its heart
And not with its mind!!

Love is the answer
That everyone seeks...

Love is the language,
That every heart speaks.

Love can't be bought,
It is priceless and free,

Love, like pure magic,
Is life's sweet mystery!!