Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions.’- Earl Gray Stevens.
Ever had the blues ’cos you had no shoes? Or the nice house yonder? Or may be the car that you have always dreamed about? Do you find your self-confidence and belief in yourself at an all time low? I do too, sometimes. It is at times like these, that I am reminded about an old verse.
I had the blues because I had no shoes,
Until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.
Success and failure are part of life; what matters is your ability to keep faith in yourself, even in the midst of adversity. Here is a true story, told by Charles Badenhop, an Aikido instructor from Japan. This is just one story, but its moral is universal; therein lays its appeal. The story is about a businessman who never lost faith despite many failures and repeated setbacks and overcame all odds to emerge successful.
The businessman in the story had to face numerous bankruptcies. After his first bankruptcy he said, “even though my business has failed, I do not feel I have failed. I still have confidence in myself. I still know that I can do something good. I just continue to believe in myself, and in the vision that I have." With the first bankruptcy behind him, he borrowed some more capital, and started a new business, which also went bankrupt in a fairly short period of time. He still did not lose faith. He focused not on what had gone wrong, but on what had worked. He was confident he could still fulfil his dream of becoming successful. He once again borrowed some money to start a new business and managed to go bankrupt again.
After three bankruptcies and big time failures, people started doubting his abilities and sniggered at him behind his back. Despite this, the businessman still refused to throw in the towel. Back on the streets, he could only borrow a very small sum of money from a relative. Not being able to start a "real" business with such a limited amount of cash, he rented a pick-up truck. He shopped around in various wholesale markets and wound up deciding to only buy reasonable quality items that he could sell cheaply. He loaded his goods into the back of his tiny pick-up truck and parked himself on a busy street where he hawked his wares to the passers by. That was the beginning. He went from strength to strength and over time parleyed the success he had with his tiny truck, into a chain of highly successful retail stores.
When asked to what he attributed his success, he replied, "believing in myself, and not picking apart all of my pluses and minuses." He said, "right from the beginning I knew that I could be successful. I knew that the formula for success was already inside of me, and that my job was to find a way to allow this formula to be expressed. I didn't try to understand what to do, I tried to get myself to the point where I was already doing what I needed to do."
We have all heard of people like Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie, Thomas Alva Edison, Hellen Keller and numerous others who have battled odds to emerge victorious. Almost every highly successful and respected person has had to face disappointment, public ridicule and umpteen failures before he or she could finally taste success. What sets them apart is their never say die spirit and unwavering faith in their ability to succeed. The seeds of failure, when sown in fertile soil, reap success. Here, soil is our attitude and our belief in our selves. It is important that we know ourselves deeply in mind and body. If you know in the heart of your hearts that you have it in you, you should let nothing stand in your way!
Never let defeat have the last word. Ever!
Ever had the blues ’cos you had no shoes? Or the nice house yonder? Or may be the car that you have always dreamed about? Do you find your self-confidence and belief in yourself at an all time low? I do too, sometimes. It is at times like these, that I am reminded about an old verse.
I had the blues because I had no shoes,
Until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.
Success and failure are part of life; what matters is your ability to keep faith in yourself, even in the midst of adversity. Here is a true story, told by Charles Badenhop, an Aikido instructor from Japan. This is just one story, but its moral is universal; therein lays its appeal. The story is about a businessman who never lost faith despite many failures and repeated setbacks and overcame all odds to emerge successful.
The businessman in the story had to face numerous bankruptcies. After his first bankruptcy he said, “even though my business has failed, I do not feel I have failed. I still have confidence in myself. I still know that I can do something good. I just continue to believe in myself, and in the vision that I have." With the first bankruptcy behind him, he borrowed some more capital, and started a new business, which also went bankrupt in a fairly short period of time. He still did not lose faith. He focused not on what had gone wrong, but on what had worked. He was confident he could still fulfil his dream of becoming successful. He once again borrowed some money to start a new business and managed to go bankrupt again.
After three bankruptcies and big time failures, people started doubting his abilities and sniggered at him behind his back. Despite this, the businessman still refused to throw in the towel. Back on the streets, he could only borrow a very small sum of money from a relative. Not being able to start a "real" business with such a limited amount of cash, he rented a pick-up truck. He shopped around in various wholesale markets and wound up deciding to only buy reasonable quality items that he could sell cheaply. He loaded his goods into the back of his tiny pick-up truck and parked himself on a busy street where he hawked his wares to the passers by. That was the beginning. He went from strength to strength and over time parleyed the success he had with his tiny truck, into a chain of highly successful retail stores.
When asked to what he attributed his success, he replied, "believing in myself, and not picking apart all of my pluses and minuses." He said, "right from the beginning I knew that I could be successful. I knew that the formula for success was already inside of me, and that my job was to find a way to allow this formula to be expressed. I didn't try to understand what to do, I tried to get myself to the point where I was already doing what I needed to do."
We have all heard of people like Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie, Thomas Alva Edison, Hellen Keller and numerous others who have battled odds to emerge victorious. Almost every highly successful and respected person has had to face disappointment, public ridicule and umpteen failures before he or she could finally taste success. What sets them apart is their never say die spirit and unwavering faith in their ability to succeed. The seeds of failure, when sown in fertile soil, reap success. Here, soil is our attitude and our belief in our selves. It is important that we know ourselves deeply in mind and body. If you know in the heart of your hearts that you have it in you, you should let nothing stand in your way!
Never let defeat have the last word. Ever!
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