Title Quote by Henry Ford.
You Can If You Think You Can!
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will.
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.
~ C. W. Longenecker ~
This isn’t me having a go at anyone in particular, but more my general attitude towards negativity, towards refusal to try things, to being pressured into believing that you have to have a certain set up or class of player in order to succeed.
Why does it bother me so? I’m not sure really, but over the last 5 years or so I have come round more and more to think that a lot of our success stems from our own belief systems. My husband is a business coach and helps people to grow their businesses. Yes, even through the recession he has achieved amazing things with his clients – from mortgage brokers to restaurant owners to holiday firms – all the sorts of people who should be drowning because of the downturn in their market.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. My instant thought was “wheelchair”. Then I decided that that route was not for me. I have had a few blips over the last 2 years, but this week I have noticed that I have more feeling in my hands than I’ve had since I was diagnosed. I feel like I am improving. I refuse to give in to it. I refuse to follow the “norms” of the disease. It will not beat me.
This is why I get so cross at people in raids who say things like “you can’t kill LK with no hunter or rogue” or “you can’t do Moroes with no shackle” or “you NEED 3 healers for this fight”. True, the fight may be easier with these things, but you don’t HAVE to do it that way. You can try other things – open your minds and let go of the fear.
FEAR – False Expectations Appearing Real.
So sorry guildies, but I will not accept “you have to have xyz” or “you can’t do this without abc”. Sure it might be harder, but can you imagine where mankind would be if we never tried past one time? We’d still be crawling because when we fell over the first time we tried to walk we wouldn’t do it again. Go read about Gevlon’s undergeared raids and put your positive hats on!
People say to me that often when they see me or hear me, I’m smiling. I might be on the outside, I’m not always on the inside, but there is no need to project my negativity on anyone else. It accomplishes nothing. I’m fed up of the generation who think everything should be given to them on a plate – including happiness. Life isn’t like that. Life is what YOU make of it and if you are positive about it, it is positive in return. If you try being happier, it comes back to you in the way people behave with you, in the interactions you have.
Leave your negativity at the door when you raid with me please. I refuse to give in to it. I refuse to accept it.
There – rant over. Now I might be able to sleep – this has been bothering me all week and in particular rose up again after last nights difficult attempts on Heroic Saurfang (when I was feeling sleep deprived anyway). Never mind him – we killed Lady Gaga Heroic! A new guild kill – we should be celebrating. Each Heroic kill is feeling like we are back on Arthas and it’s a shame we don’t big ourselves up with each new one.
This blog post is NOT aimed at anyone in particular – so stop worrying Xeal, Yorkey, Naval, Ferus, other guild friends, etc. It’s more a culmination of my 4+ years of raiding and seeing the sorts of things that CAN be done if you let go of your limiting beliefs and try walking instead of crawling 
No pictures today because I couldn’t find one that summed it all up properly and my lunch break is over and I have to get on with my work…..
So. Damn. True.
The number of nights we had to call a raid because no-one believes we could possibly do a certain boss with a certain setup really annoyed me – and even when we did try, people didn’t put in their all as they didn’t believe it’d work u_u Positivity affects performance and it also changes how you perceive failure – nothing ever seems to bad when you’re having a laugh at the same time.
/muchhugs
Soooooo true! One of the reasons I ended up stopping raiding to be honest!
I believe in my raiders and they constantly exceed my expectations and surprise me
This past weekend for example – we had 10 new people in ICC25, and not enough dps to down Festergut… but we did anyway.
My hubby and I do our share of headdesking as raid leaders but we’ve got a good guild of people
I think I might have come across a tad negative. That was not meant. I just get so frustrated at times at negativity. I know and trust the people that I raid with. I know that we CAN kill stuff against all odds (like LK with no hunter or rogue), I just wish that most people would start to believe it too. To put aside preconcieved ideas and let themselves live a little
I hear you completely… been a bit frustrated with some negativity myself lately… had someone saying my team couldn’t ever kill LK… I believe in them and just don’t want them to stop believing in themselves.
It’s very easy to start relying on a certain class/setup for a crutch – I know holy paladins excel on Saurfang, for example, but it doesn’t mean you need it. I know people used to say we would never down Festergut back in the day with no shaman for heroism, but after two weeks of finetuning and pushing our deeps a bit harder we got him down. No shaman, not one of our full-of-himself “top deepser”, down he went.
I felt we came pretty close on Saurfang – the beasts were behaving oddly and I did suffer from some mana issues – but we made progress despite the sad faces at the end. It’s just about finetuning at this point imo. We can do it – I have faith in this guild and that we can pull ourselves together and kick ass.
I always feel very, ah, envigorated by your strength – I have my own illnesses I struggle with and talking to you or being in your presence is always a way to cheer me up, even if you’re a sad Seph. Then I get motivated to find some way to cheer you up.
Awww Ari – that is so sweet – thanks! It makes things worthwhile when people feel that I can lift their spirits