Toil Upward: The Existential Decision

By Ejikemeuwa Ndubisi

That the world is not full of roses is an existential truism that is not contestable. Nothing good comes so easy, is a popular saying. Success does not fall from heaven like manna as was the case among the Israelites in the desert. To achieve success, one has to toil upward.

The existential fact is that every human person is born with qualities for successful achievements. But the only way to genuine success is by toiling upward. A person who is born with the qualities for successful achievements and neglects to exploit them will soon find himself or herself in the valley of failure. Activity perfects the being of the human person while idleness degrades one’s personality. But here we are talking of positive activity that will bring about generation and not negative activity that brings about corruption. Generation here is understood as coming into being or perfection of being while corruption is understood as going out of being.

It is quite unfortunate that in our society today many people want to harvest where they did not plant. In the eyes of some, they may seem to be successful, but the real truth is that they are failures. This is because they have refused to abide by the rules and demands of toiling upward. Any achievement, genuine and lasting, is a result of positive effort. This assertion has been proved right by human experience and confirmed by history. In every aspect of life, laughter is always preceded by toiling upward. There is no doubt that there can be no Easter Sunday without Good Friday; no crown without a cross. Many men and women that we respect and revere today did not shy away from toiling upward. All of them respected the demands of toiling upward. This fact should be drummed into the ears of today’s easy-going society.

Toiling upward demands positive thinking about life, sacrifice, creativity, discipline, sense of responsibility, faith in oneself, hard work, proper organization and programming of activity, deep commitment, determination, courage, perseverance, strong self-will, right focus in life, to name but a few. In the words of Helen Keller, “We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.” A person who wants to achieve success should not have a hit-and-run or it’s-now-or-never mentality towards life. This is the more reason George Kaitholil said that “perseverance is the price of success.”

Any person who achieves success does that because he/she has followed the demands of toiling upward. So, being determined and resolved to progress and to achieve success, a person who abides by these demands transforms all his/her resolutions and philosophy of life into reality and practicality. “Without resolutions,” said B. C. Forbes, “no man can win any worthwhile place among his fellowmen.” Put another way, to toil upward is to be resolved to carry out one’s inner desire (as long as it is morally justifiable) to a logical end. This is an existential decision one has to take if one actually wants to be successful and authenticate one’s existence. The problem we have today in our contemporary society is not the inability to make good resolutions or good policies, but the determination and strong self-will to bring them to logical conclusion. We are good at speculations and making theories. But what is needed to record success is to translate all our speculations and theories into actions – the existential decision!

Dear friends, do you know what? “The greatest man or woman is 99% just like yourself,” said Bernard Shaw. Good news for you! Can you now guess the difference? It is only 1% that differs. So you can be great today if you can existentially decide to use your 1% thoughtfully by toiling upward. Do not look sideways; do not be distracted. Always be conscious of the fact that you are loaded with potentialities that need to be actualized. Always remember that perseverance is the price of success. The idea of inferiority complex must be put aside if one wants to record success.

Finally, I wish to state categorically that in toiling upward, one has to be disposed to accept constructive criticisms in a fraternal and mature way. No one is “Mr. know-all” and so there is an existential need to have an open-door as one moves higher and higher on the success road. The wise man or woman is he/she that learns from everything. Now, if I may ask, do you need success in your business, studies, vocation, family, occupation, career, etc.? You cannot but take an existential decision: toil upward today and success shall befriend you!

Ejikemeuwa J. O. Ndubuisi is a Professor of Philosophy with specialization in Metaphysics, Epistemology and Humanism.