GUEST POST from Don – Know Your Limits

KNOW YOUR LIMITS

A funny thing with cars:  They have reservoirs.  There’s the gas tank, the oil level, the radiator fluid, the transmission fluid, washer fluid, … even the passenger compartment is a reservoir which is measured in leg room and shoulder room.  Your owner’s manual will tell you all the details.  You can’t assume the car will hold more than the printed limits (the passenger compartment often holds less than, although the gas tank may take a bit more than).

Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry) states in Magnum Force, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”  Well, there are serious times when that is 100% true.  Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Jean-Luc Picard once said, “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.”

We will all reach a limit to our abilities or function.  I think we have all met that person who was promoted beyond his or her knowledge, experience, or ability.  We all will have illnesses, face loss, and come to the end of our lives.  We can’t stop those and we can’t avoid them.  

One man who was in WWII said, that he wasn’t “willing” to shoot at the enemy.  He shot over their heads until a bullet hit a rock nearby.  Then he got serious.  “If I don’t kill them, they will kill me.  I don’t want to die.”  He says he doesn’t know if he killed anyone, but his willingness changed.

Growing up I was squeamish.  I didn’t like insects, worms, or other creepy crawlies.  As an adult I needed serious employment and suddenly I was doing pest control.  I was up close and personal with cockroaches, mice, stinging yellow jackets, and almost every larvae imaginable.  Thirty years later I still didn’t like them, but I had to deal with them.  Apparently it wasn’t a limitation any more.  Some limitations will transform us.  We grow spines, the only other option is failure.  

The world has limits.  We do not have boundless opportunities, endless cash supplies, or unending support systems.  At some point we all find something which says “No further, dude!”  Not every road will get you to your destination.

People assume they are better at predicting the future than they are in reality.  Our brains try to make sense of past events and “find” explanations for why things happened that way.  It is called “Hindsight Bias.”  However, when asked to write down the outcomes of things BEFORE they happen, they fail far more often than they imagined they would at predicting outcomes.  We normally forget our forecast failures and focus on those few times we pegged it.

Worse, when we look back we imagine that we can see the signs of that outcome.  We did not know.  We would not have known.  Our brains are merely connecting the “dots” after the fact.  We should know our limitations.

Look around.  Who in your circle has failed repeatedly?  I have noticed many celebrities who seem to not know their limitations.  They date, then marry, then divorce … before the divorce is final they are already dating someone else (Christina Haack, perhaps??).  They don’t even take the time to explore why the first relationship failed.  Did they blame ALL the problems on their S.O.?  Did they imagine they will choose better next time because they “should have seen” the outcome last time?  Nope!  They don’t know their limitations, do they!

There is a reason some things are known as “risky.”  Parachuting is not safe.  Most life insurance plans will not cover jumping out of a perfectly good plane.  Mountain climbing … not safe.  A few hundred die every year doing “what they loved” (like dying was what they loved?)  It is considered very risky.  And the human body has limitations.  Zip down the road at 110 MPH and hit a solid object … very risky.  Smoking – risky.  Eating strange mushrooms – risky.  Gunfights – risky.  Swimming with sharks or alligators – risky, too.  If you are doing something risky you should have your affairs in order.  

Let’s get real for once.  We have limits.  A person can only live for about 10 days without food, just a few days without water, only a few minutes without air.  These are limits which should not be ignored.

Speaking of having your affairs in order … having an affair often leads to serious risks.  So much better to stay true, stay honorable and stay safe.  Funny thing is that one’s boyfriend or wife (whichever) feels a murderous rage when cheated on.  

Thus, you should make sure those you might leave behind are taken care of.  If you love them have a life insurance policy to protect them from financial burdens.

I’m at the age where about 2% of males who were born the year I was will die in 2025.  1 in 50.  They might make no mistakes and still lose.  We all will at some point.  Last year people living in North Carolina died in a hurricane.  This year people living in California died in a wild fire.  

HOWEVER, C.S. Lewis points the way to reach beyond our limits.  In his book “Mere Christianity” he details how.  He says that God can make us perfect.  He is merely quoting Scripture.  There’s good news there, if you didn’t know.  It is obvious that no human is perfect HERE.  But once God enters He begins to fix what is broken.  His goal is not to make us “a bit better.”  Nope.  He wants us to become far better than we have a right to be and He begins the process HERE.  After all, we pray “Our Father,…” as Jesus taught His disciples to pray.  The prayer puts us in an awkward position if we think about it.  We are declaring that God is our Father, just as God is the Father of Jesus.  At the same time we know we are FAKES.  We aren’t sinless, or perfect, or deserving like Jesus was.  However, who we have BEEN no longer matters once we continue to crucify self and live faithful to Christ in us.  The Father doesn’t see us but His Son (who is in us).  We have just hit our LIMITLESSNESS!

Copyright 2025 Donald Whelpley

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]

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