“Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” – Henry Ford
Belief is a powerful thing. It can define a life in either direction be it good or bad.
But belief is established two ways: via argument or hard evidence.
A really good argument could be made about the finding that fire burns. All sorts of facts could be brought to bear to reinforce the argument that if you put your finger near a lit match you’ll be burned by its heat.
Lemon Tree – Lyrics by Peter, Paul, and Mary (Popular folk-singing group of the 1960’s)
If you lived, like I did in the era of the 60’s, you would quickly recognize these lyrics as belonging to the popular folk-singing group Peter, Paul, and Mary.
I came across this song on YouTube recently and I thought how relevant it is – in a reverse sort of way – to failure.
We all know only too well that unlike the lemon tree failure is not so pretty.
In fact it really sucks.
It hurts our heads and ruins our day and yet… and yet, I’ve come to understand that its “fruit” is so masterfully designed as a portal to higher learning that it’s now become, and in reality has always been, essential if any of us are to reach any success in our lives at all.
Mickey Rooney, the acclaimed actor whose career spans over 75 years, said: “You always pass failure on the way to success”.
I feel like I’ve passed a lot of failure in my life. So perhaps I, like a lot of folks, have a love/hate relationship with failure. I’ve come to know it well. Thirty years of trying and falling short in my efforts to bring my radical theories about human motivation and empowerment to you and have left me with no choice but to press on every day and learn to do it better.
It’s a matter of mindset.
Hasn’t your life been like this? Hasn’t it been like this for almost everyone you know?
Take a close look at it. You’ve had successes. But every one of them has undoubtedly been preceded by a failure. Some big some small but a foundation of failure is what lies beneath all achievement.
Like the roots of a fruit tree.
More power to you all.
“How the heck are you doing?”
I asked an acquaintance whom I hadn’t seen in a while.
He appeared outwardly optimistic but in a fatalist kind of way. Further discussion revealed that he was indeed somewhat worried about his job security with the local newspaper.
“They say it’s the worst economic downturn this generation has ever seen” he said, confirming my impression that he was preoccupied about something.
But this reaction was the exception. Often times if I meet someone and I introduce the subject of the current economic troubles they tend to clam up. It becomes obvious that they’d rather talk about something else.
Anything else. It’s making it difficult to get a good grasp on how people are coping.
Last week GM in Oshawa Ontario permanently closed its truck plant after 60 continuous years of operation. 2,500 workers
lost their jobs. Chrysler is set to axe a raft of dealerships in the US and GM will soon follow that action here in Canada.
For the last half-century or so an odd-ball spoof magazine has graced the news stands: Mad Magazine.
I, like a ton of other young boys, became aware of it when I was still in grade school. On the cover was the magazine’s fictional mascot and iconic symbol: a zany spokes-guy by the name of Alfred E. Newman. Alfred’s favorite catchphrase “What, me worry?” was also featured somewhere on the cover of every issue.
As kids if we couldn’t remember his name it didn’t matter, we just referred to him as the “what-me-worry-guy”; everyone knew who you meant.
But despite all the years of clever satirical humor (often at the expense of those currently in the glow of the news or popular entertainment) the general population today is reportedly more worried now than ever.
Not surprising either.
In my local paper today is a good example of how the news media is playing us all into the worry hole.