Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles There were two people who went on vacation each on their own. On that first night, they winded up at the same hotel. And coincidently, there were only two hotel rooms left. So they took one each and went up to their rooms. However, when they got there they found the bathrooms smelled like s***. Like what else did you guess I would say? They're bathrooms, they smelled like s***. Now the first person couldn't stand it so he pinched his nose and tucked his head under the blanket for the rest of the night while murmuring I'm never coming back to this hotel again. The second person got up. He rolled up his sleeves, turned on the faucet and he cleaned the bathroom. And he had a smell free, good-night's sleep throughout the entire night. Now which person are you? Excellent people don't just put up with and wait for things to change. They change things. I had a good friend in college. One day we went to school, to the soccer field to play soccer. And when we got there we found that the field was covered with trash. Like literally mountains of rubbish and trash lying in front of us. Turns out there was a game last night and the janitor wasn't working over the weekends. So I thought to myself, you know what, maybe we'd just settle in a little corner and do some practices over there. But I looked at my friend, and my friend however he was bending down and he started to pick up the trash, cleaning up the place. And as a friend, I couldn't be a bystander so I felt compelled to join him. And it took us two hours to completely clean it all up until it was completely spotless. The janitor would have come in the next day but my friend intended to do it anyways. And after we cleaned it all up, we got to use the entire field cleanly. Excellent people don't just put up with and wait for things to change. They change things. Excellent people don't endure the unnecessary when they know they can make a difference. They find a way to improve the condition, to improve the environment, and sometimes to improve themselves. So years later till now, I still remember the day me and my friend cleaned up an entire soccer field. It was tiring! Now I'm not saying that endurance is not important. Endurance is surely a beautiful virtue but only when you're enduring the right things. When somebody insults you and tries to pick a fight and you take the high road and walk away. That's endurance. When your big exam is right around the corner and you curb your urge to play video games or go out with your friends. That's endurance. When times are rough and tough and instead of giving in, you hold on and give it your all. That's endurance. I love the quote that goes, “Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing but to turn it into glory.” So ask yourself this, “Is what you're putting up with turning into glory or not?” When you're sick, putting up with your illness is not endurance.That's foolishness. You should go see the doctors. When you intend to stay loyal to your girlfriend but you stay late at the nightclub with a bunch of good-looking young girls dancing around you all night. Now trust me, that's not you showing that you're loyal. That's not you showing that you can withstand the temptation. That's you asking for something bad to happen. That's not endurance and you should leave. There are times to bear but there are also times to resolve the issue by taking the proper action. So back to the story at the very beginning. The dirtiness, the smelliness inside the hotel bathroom. Those are like the bad situations that you're caught up in and even though sometimes they might not even be your fault, but if you do nothing about it they'll keep affecting you. The dirtiness could also resemble your shortcomings. Don't just put up with yourself. Correct yourself. 'Cos the longer these bad thoughts inside, these bad tempers stay with you, the longer you're gonna have to pinch your nose against them. And you don't want that to happen. Excellent people don't just put up with and wait for things to change. They change things including themselves. Peace! [Music]
B1 US endurance excellent hotel cleaned soccer field JR Lee Radio 1428 291 Icrt Jr Lee posted on 2018/03/04 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary