The Last Word
Enjoy the Climb - Ridgely Goldsborough
The mother of the mighty Chinese warrior General Lee was devoured by a ferocious tiger. He spied the beast and shot it with an arrow, only to discover that what he had seen was actually a rock. The arrow lodged itself deep in the rock. Surprised, he tried to duplicate his feat but could not penetrate the stone a second time. Later he became known as General Stone Tiger.
Thomas Edison never viewed as a failure a single light bulb that didn't work. Rather, each broken prototype brought him closer to his ultimate success.
Colonel Sanders was rejected over 500 times before someone decided to take a chance on his famous fried chicken recipe. The rest is history.
Vidanne Tsamis, a successful actress, was paralyzed in a devastating accident. Undaunted, she has built a successful Network Marketing business from the bedroom in which she now lives.
Sandy Moreland lost her mother and daughter in the same week. From the depths of despair, she and her husband picked themselves up to care for others and has replaced in some measure that lost love with the Network Marketing organization they now cherish and call family.
Jim Darechuk slept in his car for months, separated from his wife and child before once again picking himself up and starting over. He now runs a super successful Network.
What does this mythical figure, these famous and not-as-yet-as-famous individuals have that others don't? Is it commitment? Dedication? Drive? Belief?
Perhaps all of these and more. One thing seems certain. Each of them has a tremendous strength of purpose-- strength that came from deep within and propelled them to ultimate victory. What distinguishes the victor from the vanquished and the wise from the foolish is this: The wise absolutely never give up. They continue to lead lives of challenge and never run away or retreat. The struggle truly lies within ourselves, against our own individual willingness to give up or to accept less than success. If this is so, then the true secret to success must lie in the sheer refusal to quit, refusal to fail, and in the struggle to win the battle against our own fears and weaknesses.
Everyday we try, we win. Everyday we press forward, we get closer. Everyday we advance, even if only two or three inches, our goals are that much more attainable. In the very effort, our inner muscles build. Our power increases. Our vision expands. Like Edison, Sanders and countless others, we develop true strength of purpose.
No one finds their mission by standing still. The key lies in ascending every mountain before us. In the ascent, we develop endurance, the ability to keep going. This training enables us to take on even higher mountains-- especially the truly scary and ugly ones like lack of self-worth and fear. No matter what the obstacle, if we move forward without ever giving up, it will vanish like a mirage.
Who knows. We might even be able to shoot an arrow through a rock. -- RG
Back to top of article
Reprinted with permission from Upline, The Last Word - February 1999, 888-UPLINE-1, http://www.upline.com
Back
|
