Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel: Every day was a living gehenom. He NEVER stopped shaking. I heard that it took him about 15 minutes just to put his jacket on in the morning. He didn't let that stop him. He just smiled. And learned. And went all over the world fundraising. And learned some more. Sometimes he would try to give a shiur and over the course of a half hour say four words. But that didn't stop him from trying. He never complained. He just DID. Go to the Beis Yisrael section of Yerushalayim and see the empire he built. Wonder of wonders.
Rav Meir Don Plotzki the author of the Kli Chemdah: He lived in Pre-War Poland and was poorer than poor. He made a salary as Rov of his shtetl of 2 and a half cents a month [OK slightly - but only slightly - more]. He had cancer for over 30 years. He beloved son died in his youth. His daughter[s] went off the derech. What a miserable life. But read the Kli Chemdah [or his other sefer "Chemdas Yisrael"]. What a GAON! What mastery of the Torah. He LEARNED.
No excuses.
:-)
