What are you doing to help yourself?

Although not the original author of the phrase, Ben Franklin wrote, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Now you might not be the religious type, but regardless, there’s wisdom buried in that quote.

Here’s a brief joke/story that illustrates the point.

A storm descends on a small town, and the downpour soon turns into a flood. As the waters rise, the local Preacher kneels in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. By and by, one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe.

“Better get in, Preacher. The waters are rising fast.”

“No,” says the Preacher. “I have faith in the Lord. He will save me.”

Still the waters rise. Now the Preacher is up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when another guy zips up in a motorboat.

“Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee’s gonna break any minute.”

Once again, the Preacher is unmoved. “I shall remain. The Lord will see me through.”

After a while the levee breaks, and the flood rushes over the church until only the steeple remains above water. The Preacher is up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descends out of the clouds, and a state trooper calls down to him through a megaphone.

“Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance.”

Once again, the Preacher insists the Lord will deliver him.

And, predictably, he drowns.

A pious man, the Preacher goes to heaven. After a while he gets an interview with God, and he asks the Almighty, “Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn’t you deliver me from that flood?”

God shakes his head. “What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”

As you can see from the story, there comes a time when you must act and help yourself.

It’s great to have a robust support system, and if you’re so inclined, faith in powers greater than you, but you still need to do your part. And doing your part doesn’t mean doing as little as possible to get by. It means exerting the additional effort required to get what you want out of life.

Of course, there are no guarantees that you’ll always get what you set out to accomplish, but you can be sure that you’ll be closer than if you had never tried.

So, think about what you want out of life and then exert just a little more effort to help yourself move closer to your goals. Who knows, once you try a little harder, you too might see metaphorical boats and helicopters appear to help you on your journey.

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