Desenrascanço

If only I had the time to spend…

If only I had the money to start…

If only I would meet the right person…

I get it. We all do. If you were given the right tools, the right opportunity, and the right timing, you could prove the world just what you are capable of doing. You could prove to everyone just how far you could go, just how high you could reach, just how big you could be. But alas, if only…

“If only” has got to be the most overused excuse for self-sabotage that man has created, and specifically the one that annoys me the most. It places the blame of you not even trying on your environment. It’s your surroundings’ fault that you don’t do something to better yourself.

If only I won the lottery, I wouldn’t need to work, but guess what? I haven’t won the lottery, so I do the best I can with what I have. That’s the real art of living. Taking what you have, and making the best you can out of yourself. Don’t look at what you have as a limitation. Look of it as the structure within you have to create. Use it for stability, turning what was a limitation into your foundation and build up from there.

The Portuguese have a word for this; Desenrascanço. The term Desenrascanço roughly means “the act of disentangling yourself from a difficult situation using available means.” Because, the reality is that what’s available is what you have to work with. “If only” and “what if” only serve to keep you from the “go do.”

Yes, it’s difficult. And yes, you will see challenges within your environment. But the reality is that these challenges only exist within yourself and your self-doubt. Once you overcome your tendency to question yourself, you will realize that these are not challenges, but simple situations that can be worked with or worked around to your benefit. Obstacles will then become opportunities or will simply vanish.