If I still had my legs, I would be in line for a battalion command, and instead, I'm flying a desk.
Tammy DuckworthRead
I get up every single day trying to repay a debt that I can never repay. Never. And I will work hard. Because I don't know why I was saved. I don't know.
Interpretation
The speaker feels a sense of obligation to make the most of their life after being saved from a dire situation.
Tammy Duckworth's quote reflects a profound sense of gratitude and responsibility. She expresses a commitment to work hard each day as a way to honor her life after a significant experience that left her feeling indebted. This sense of indebtedness drives her motivation and underscores the idea that life should be lived fully in recognition of the second chance she feels she has been given.
In practice
In a motivational speech about resilience and gratitude.
If I still had my legs, I would be in line for a battalion command, and instead, I'm flying a desk.
It was the combination of hard work and a hand up that allowed me to become one of the first women to fly in combat missions and achieve my American Dream.
I went to Iraq in 2004 because I believe in doing my duty, not because I agreed with the war.
The women putting their lives at risk for our country deserve better than to be treated as second-class citizens.
The wheelchair and the prosthesis give me a soapbox to stand on. If it helps me get my message across, I'm glad; then we need to talk about what we need to do for this country.
As I recovered at Walter Reed, I worried about the soldiers who pulled me out of my helicopter that Friday afternoon. Would they make it back okay? And what about all the other soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who were also putting their lives on the line every day?
Quite apart from anything else, my experience is trying to change things for the better makes you feel better, healthier. Humans are communicative animals: when you do good in a community, the benefits eventually get back to you.
Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion.
Lucky accidents seldom happen to writers who don't work. You will find that you may rewrite and rewrite a poem and it never seems quite right. Then a much better poem may come rather fast and you wonder why you bothered with all that work on the earlier poem. Actually, the hard work you do on one poem is put in on all poems. The hard work on the first poem is responsible for the sudden ease of the second. If you just sit around waiting for the easy ones, nothing will come. Get to work.
I'm confident to say that if you want to grow in a profession, consistency is the key... I'm strict about my work goals and training.
You have the ability and gifts to do whatever you want". It is your turn now to change the world. Yes we can!
Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it.
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