 Winners Overcome!
How many of us in the world think success is for the "other person"? We think we're just average and probably won't get the breaks that will lead to our own "big break". Or maybe we don't think we have what it takes to be a success. Or maybe we've failed so many times, we just don't have the strength to get up and try again.
I read this quote a while back...
History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats
I like that! And it reminded me of a collection of stories I keep about people who just wouldn't let life conquer them...
· Woody Allen - Academy Award-winning writer producer And director - flunked motion picture production at New York
University and the City College of New York. He also failed English at New York University.
· When Lucille Ball began studying to be an actress in 1927, she was told by the head instructor of the John Murray Anderson Drama School, "Try any other profession. Any other."
· John Milton became blind at 44. Sixteen years later he wrote the classic, Paradise Lost.
· After having lost both legs in an air crash, British fighter pilot Douglas Bader rejoined the British Royal Air Force with two artificial limbs. During World War II he was captured by the Germans three times - and three times he escaped.
· Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually won a race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered. Eventually this little girl, who was told she would never walk again, went on to win 3 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS!
· In 1952, Edmund Hillary attempted to climb Mt. Everest, the highest mountain than known to humans - 29,000 feet straight up. A few weeks after his failed attempt, he was asked to address a group in England. Hillary walked to the edge of the stage, made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, "Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I'll beat you the next time because you've grown all you are going to grow... but I'm still growing!" On May 29, only one year later, Edmund Hillary succeeded in becoming the first man to climb Mt. Everest.
Gosh, I love that. "...You've grown all you are going to grow... but I'm still growing!"... I want that to be the motto of my life.
I work with so many people in my team who never REALLY thought they could achieve something big with their lives - but they still had their DREAMS! And their dreams propelled them to keep growing and keep changing. Their dreams gave them the courage to keep taking risks. I hope it's the same with you |