"O. Henry discovered the genius which slept within his brain after he had met with great misfortune, and was confined to a prison cell, in Columbus, Ohio. Being forced, through misfortune, to become acquainted with his "other self," and to use his imagination, he discovered himself to be a great author instead of a miserable criminal and outcast."
- Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich
I absolutely love these kind of quotes and stories of people who became very famous, yet some were very late bloomers. It ain't over, till it's over!
Long ago, I bought a huge collection of business books on tape and most were biographies of famous business people like Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and famous businesses like Xerox, IBM and so on. There is one that stood out for me with this aspect of late bloomers. It was Col. Harlan Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken. He didn't even begin to become successful until he was 65. He failed so many times that he stopped counting and just kept going. It's an amazing story.
Abraham Lincoln failed at everything he tried until after age 40. Edison, Charles Dickens, Helen Keller, Robert Burns, they were all failures until they were successes. And the list goes on and on and on.
Just because you fail at something, that is no reason to believe that you will fail again. Failing is not a problem. Giving up is. Edison tried over 10,000 times to make the electric light he dreamed of in his head a reality. He failed that many times and more before he succeeded. Reggie Jackson is a star baseball player who happens to lead the pack in career strikeouts at 2,597. Nobody talks about his strikeouts.
You will be served well if you allow yourself to fail. If you are willing to fail, you have a far greater chance of succeeding. I have made and continue to make mistakes. I used to brood about them, now I learn from them. Yet, I am willing to make more of them because I know that each failed attempt, or missed target is an opportunity. I learn and grow and become more.
There's an old saying, "wisdom comes from experience and experience comes from making mistakes." And, of course, learning from the mistakes.
Give yourself the gift of hope and patience, along with a good dose of eagerness. Be willing and keep trying. Some of the world's greatest people were still trying at a late age and I'm sure that we are all glad they kept trying.
It's all good. You're covered. Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back!
There's Always A Way!
Spread Some Joy Today--Treat Yourself To Something You Want. People Will Notice That Look On Your Face!
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