Nehru's Speech

I am reading speeches at the moment, and I just read one by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first president of an independent India, after it’s separation from England.  So much of what he said, I thought was great.
It is short but so often I find things are better determined by weight, then volume.  What he talks about does not just relate to the birth of a nation, but the birth of an individual – no matter how old the individual is. 
“A moment comes….when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends…..”     Seeing some things end is a reason to celebrate rather than mourn – not everything, but some things.  I am unique.  What I experience is not all good, or all bad.  I must determine for myself what is what, and what is the best course of action for me.  “Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow….Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.”
I would be wrong though, to think that the old ending is all there is to it.  “The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us.”    “That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving.” 
It seems like such a contradiction that I need to work to rest.  Rest in this context implies I have worked to get it.  To rest, I must have worked first.  As they say “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.”  No matter how much I may enjoy something, there are times I need to walk away. One of the definitions of rest has “recover strength.”  An unreplenished river runs dry and is drained.  Resting gives opportunity for inflow that offsets the outflow of work.
I am incredibly big on finding my niche.  Unfortunately, no matter where I look there are needs.  The quickest way to burn out and giving up, is to try and meet all the needs.  The job is too large.  That would be like in one sitting, trying to eat the whole cow and not just a part of it.  I can eat part, but not all.  However, if a number of us do it, it can be done.
“….as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.”  I believe that one day pain and suffering will be over, but as Lord of the Rings made famous to me, “today is not that day.”  There is work to be done.
What I do though needs to be directed.  “And so we have to…..give reality to our dreams.”  As someone put on Facebook recently, the surest way to fulfil our dreams is to wake up.  A gun that fires buckshot may hit the target, but many shots may miss big time.  My activity needs to be focused.  I would rather solve one problem, than create another.  A wounded bull is a problem (especially if the cow just consumed was his woman).
That is where I find Nehru saying, “Freedom and power bring responsibility” is so important.  I am glad for freedom, but I do not want to use it as an occasion to bind either myself or others.
If something is within my power to change for the better, and I feel it is my role to do it, then, as Nike says I will “just do it.”