Progress and Prosperity

Written for a scholarship essay...

Prosperity is one of the most vague, yet most sought after, positions a person can aspire to. When embodying this dimension, we may envision someone like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, multi-billionaires. They hold the ability to have nearly anything that could make a person content. They hold the world in awe of their wealth and prestige and have their futures secure to some degree. Yet, when we are all on our deathbeds I am sure we will not be saying, “Why hadn’t I measured up against those corporate giants?”

 

We all want prosperity. It is in our reason for existence, and gnaws at the soul when failure dogs us. When others receive awards or get a boost from the hand of fate, some of us turn to jealousy, deceiving ourselves. This only digs us a deeper rut and instead of moving forward, we move rapidly backward. The only true prosperity comes from constant readjustment of our attitudes. One of Old Aesop’s fables demonstrates the attitude that we allow to obstruct our own prosperity and progression. “A Crab, forsaking the seashore, chose a neighboring green meadow as its feeding ground. A Fox came across him, and being very hungry ate him up. Just as he was on the point of being eaten, the Crab said, ‘I well deserve my fate, for what business had I on the land, when by my nature and habits I am only adapted for the sea?’"(1)

 

If we would simply stop to take account of the good that is taking place, our feelings would not be so overcrowded with the bad. We would learn a deeper meaning within ourselves. We would find that our dreams and passions, our strengths and the weaknesses that make us human, all work together to weave this image of prosperity. Terence, a Roman playwright , composed this phrase: "I have everything, yet have nothing; and although I possess nothing, still of nothing am I in want."(2)

 

If we seek out the blessings of our lives, we will surely find them. However, if we only take them out of the closet of our souls occasionally, admire them and put them back, they will be eaten with the mothballs of neglect. Like a comfortable, effective outfit, we must wear our gratitude in the forefront of our thoughts. President John F. Kennedy stated, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” (3)

 

Constructive progress lies in the heart of genuine desire to challenge the inadequacies of the past, to bring about a better future. In every mind there is a sense of this need for progress. It drives us and throws the old world off kilter. But if left alone, unexercised, the hope of progression lies stagnant and lifeless, and soon idles the time away into dull monotony.

 

However, many inspired people have not let themselves abuse their right to progression. They have sought out the ideas that would later shape our happiness and create a more efficient way of life. One such man started as a simple paper boy who enjoyed drawing cartoons. Walt Disney kept the flame of hope alive that he could create a happier world, that progress was something to invite into our lives with eagerness. His dreams and determination spread to introduce us to some of the most magical and fantastic things possible. He counseled, “Somehow I can't believe there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.”(4) _____________________________________________________________________

 

(1) Aesop’s Fables: The Crab and the Fox. (2) Terence. Eunuchus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 12. (243.)

(3) “Gratitude”. Quote Unquote: A Handbook of Quotations. Lotus Press. 2007. New Delhi.

(4) The Quotable Walt Disney. Hyperion Press. 2001