Burning Desire

"WHEN Edwin C. Barnes climbed down from the freight train in Orange, N. J., more than thirty years ago, he may have resembled a tramp, but his thoughts were those of a king!
As he made his way from the railroad tracks to Thomas A. Edison's office, his mind was at work. He saw himself standing in Edison's presence. He heard himself asking Mr. Edison for an opportunity to carry out the one CONSUMING OBSESSION OF HIS LIFE, a BURNING DESIRE to become the business associate of the great inventor.
Barnes' desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen, pulsating DESIRE, which transcended everything else. It was DEFINITE." excerpt from Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Burning Desire is what set Mr. Barnes part from all of Edison's other assistants. As I read this story instated to think about some life lessons I have learned, specifically one piece of advice that was given to me: "don't burn bridges!" it was usually in the context of relationships with bosses or employers. The idea was that you need to treat people well on the way up in your career because you will see them all again on your way back down!

In relationships this may be true, but when pursuing your goals, your life purpose, you and I must not let anything stand in the way of our burning desire. In my life I have experienced crossing some bridges and arriving at a new place. But when the heat got too hot I retreated back across the bridge into a state of the familiar and comfortable. Burning desire must blaze along with burning bridges. Pursue what you know in your soul to be your purpose and eliminate then "B" plan. Set your eyes on the mark and move forward with no thought of stopping. Edwin C. Barnes realized his goal. Burning desire destroyed all of the bridges back to complacency. Ask yourself today, do I have a burning desire to be all that I was created to be?