Lately I have been thinking a lot about believing in yourself...Sadly, it seems that the critics in life are far more numerous than the cheerleaders. It really should be the other way around. Life is hard enough as it is, why do we feel like we need to drag others down in the already great struggle of everyday life.
We all have dreams and aspirations. We all have goals we desire more than anything to achieve. More times than not, the road to those dreams and goals and aspirations has it's share of roadblocks and challenges. There are setbacks. We get discouraged. But then when we hear a voice in the crowd say, "You can do it." "Get back up, I know you can do this." "I believe in you." It is in that moment that the flicker of hope returns, and we are better able to believe in ourselves.
I read this the other night and it really struck me as profound. It is true that some of the greatest people who have ever lived have faced great challenges and a great deal of criticism. The following is accredited to Ted Engstrom:
Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott. Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan. Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington. Land him in poverty, and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Subject him to bitter religious strife, and you have a Disraeli. Strike him with Infantile Paralysis, and you have a Franklin D Roosevelt, the only President of the United States to be elected to four terms of office. Burn him so severely in a schoolhouse fire that the doctors say he will never walk, and you have a Glenn Cunningham, who set a world record in 1934 for running the mile
in 4 minutes 6.7 seconds.
Deafen a genius composer who continues to compose some of the world's most beautiful music, and you have a Beethoven. Drag him more dead than alive out of a rice paddy in Vietnam, and you have a Rocky Bleier, that beautiful running-back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T Washington, Harriet Tubman, or Martin Luther King Jr. Have him born of parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down at the age of four, and you have and Itzhak Perlman, the incomparable violinist. Call him "retarded" and write him off as "uneducatable," and you have an Albert Einstein.
After losing both his legs in an airplane crash, let an RAF fighter pilot fly, and you have World War II ace Douglas Bader, who was captured by the Germans three times and escaped three times on two artificial limbs. Label him too stupid to learn, and you have a Thomas Edison. Label him a hopeless alcoholic, and you have a Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Tell her she is too old to start painting at 80, and you have a Grandma Moses. Blind him at age 44, and you have a John Milton, who 10 years later wrote Paradise Lost. Call him dull and hopeless and flunk him in the 6th grade, and you have a Winston Churchill. Tell a young boy who loved to draw and sketch that he had no talent, and you have a Walt Disney. Rate him mediocre in chemistry, and you have a Louis Pasteur. Take a crippled child whose only home was an orphanage, and you have a
James E West, who became the first chief executive of the Boy Scouts of America.
Spit on him, humiliate him, betray his trust, say on thing and do another. Mistrust those whom he loves. Mock him. Make him carry a heavy wooden cross, and then crucify him, and you have the Savior of the world.
in 4 minutes 6.7 seconds.
Deafen a genius composer who continues to compose some of the world's most beautiful music, and you have a Beethoven. Drag him more dead than alive out of a rice paddy in Vietnam, and you have a Rocky Bleier, that beautiful running-back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T Washington, Harriet Tubman, or Martin Luther King Jr. Have him born of parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down at the age of four, and you have and Itzhak Perlman, the incomparable violinist. Call him "retarded" and write him off as "uneducatable," and you have an Albert Einstein.
After losing both his legs in an airplane crash, let an RAF fighter pilot fly, and you have World War II ace Douglas Bader, who was captured by the Germans three times and escaped three times on two artificial limbs. Label him too stupid to learn, and you have a Thomas Edison. Label him a hopeless alcoholic, and you have a Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Tell her she is too old to start painting at 80, and you have a Grandma Moses. Blind him at age 44, and you have a John Milton, who 10 years later wrote Paradise Lost. Call him dull and hopeless and flunk him in the 6th grade, and you have a Winston Churchill. Tell a young boy who loved to draw and sketch that he had no talent, and you have a Walt Disney. Rate him mediocre in chemistry, and you have a Louis Pasteur. Take a crippled child whose only home was an orphanage, and you have a
James E West, who became the first chief executive of the Boy Scouts of America.
Spit on him, humiliate him, betray his trust, say on thing and do another. Mistrust those whom he loves. Mock him. Make him carry a heavy wooden cross, and then crucify him, and you have the Savior of the world.
Yes, the greatest souls to have walked this earth have faced great adversity. They were told they were wrong. They were told they didn't have a chance. They were called foolish for ever believing they could succeed. They didn't listen. They were victorious. They made a difference... So when you are reaching for you dreams, and you face opposition and hear the voices of the naysayers. Don't listen. Continue on. Believe in yourself and what you are doing. Pursue your ambitions and dreams. Listen carefully and you will hear the encouraging voices of those who love and believe in you, cheering you on, and it will make all the difference...
I didn't know you blogged, but I like your message. It's always fun to reconnect.
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