“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
–Theodore Roosevelt
One of the most difficult tasks we all face is determining what our role in life should be. Should we aspire to great accomplishments? Should we try to change the world on a grand scale? Should we seek fame and fortune? Or should we be content to just sweep the corner where we live and enjoy life’s simple pleasures?
The reason this is such a difficult task is that few of us know the full extent, or the limitations, of our abilities. Some of us do not set our goals high enough to sufficiently test our capabilities and discover our limitations. Our fear of failure leads us to settle for less than we are capable of. Gandhi said, “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” Perhaps he was right. There may be enough untapped potential in the world’s inhabitants to solve many of our major problems. On the other hand, some of us go through life suffering frustration after frustration because we are attempting to play a role in life for which we are not satisfactorily equipped. According to an old English proverb, “Everyone must row with the oars he has.” Just as some people fail to push themselves to the full extent of their capabilities, others try in vain to exceed their limitations.
Some of us are just not cut out to be movie stars, professional athletes, great singers or even business executives. William Henry Hudson drove this point home when he said, “You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren.” As Theodore Roosevelt said, we must all attempt to do what we can, with what we have, where we are.
And we should never feel inadequate or inferior so long as we are making the most of the talents we have. I strongly agree with Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who said, “Every calling is great when greatly pursued.” We don’t have to be rich or famous to be enormously important. If we vigorously row with the oars we have, we are fulfilling our destiny in life.
The question we all have to ask ourselves is, do we have the wings of an eagle or the wings of a wren? This is an extremely difficult question that each of us must answer for ourselves. Some who think they have only the wings of a wren discover that they are really eagles in disguise. We must not sell ourselves short. But we must also not sentence ourselves to a life of frustration by trying to fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren.
Being an independent thinker does not enhance our popularity. It is more comfortable to follow the pack and conform to the conventional wisdom, whatever that may be at any given point in time. But the pack mentality may be wrong, as it has proven to be so many times before throughout history. We should always be willing to consider new ideas, but whether we accept them should be determined by our own thinking and by what we think God would want us to do. My mother lived her entire life based on the philosophy of trying to do what she thought God would want her to do. This approach to life worked well for her throughout her 94 years on this earth.
Think about it.
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Copyright 2025
Allen W. Smith
