Gandhi's First Act of Civil Disobedience Sparks Vision

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18)

A young Gandhi courtesy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi.

Mahatma Ghandi was raised by a middle class family in India.  He suffered from low self-esteem as a child. One day, he was riding on a train in South Africa.  The porter told him that because of his dark skin, he would have to move to a freight car.  Ghandi refused and was ejected from the train. (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gandhis-first-act-of-civil-disobedience).  From that day on he had a purpose:  to help others overcome discrimination.  His self-esteem blossomed and he went on to be one of the most beloved leaders of the 20th Century (http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/two-ways-to-unlock-your-potential).  

Dorothea Lange grew up in a poor family.  Her father deserted the family when she was 12.  A bout with polio left her one leg permanently damaged.  Embarrassed, she just wanted to disappear.  During the Great Depression, she picked up a camera, and started photographing the homeless, the jobless, the hungry:  she had found her purpose.  In 1940, her photograph collection was displayed at the Modern Museum of Art.  The following year she received a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship.  Her most famous photograph, Migrant Mother, opened the eyes of the public and government to the plight of Americans during the Great Depression.  As a result the government sent 100,000 pounds of food to the camp where the "migrant mother" was living (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx36c7wAY0Y).

Dorothy Lange doing what she loved best courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lange.

Unlock your potential.  Discover your vision or purpose.  It will change your life.

Note:  Read Brian Tracy's Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life:  How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement (https://www.amazon.ca/Change-Your-Thinking-Life-Achievement/dp/0471735388).

The Law of Attraction

"You will attract into your life -- whether wanted or unwanted -- whatever you give your energy, focus and attention to." (Jack Canfield)

My husband's friend John used to tell the story of how his uncle took 17 tries to get his driver's licence.  Finally, the tester, tired of seeing the same face over and over again, made a deal with John's uncle:  If you can park in this parking spot beside this car correctly, I'll pass you.  John's uncle desperately tried to maneuver his vehicle into the parking space, but he crashed right into the other car!  

"You will attract into your life -- whether wanted or unwanted -- whatever you give your energy, focus and attention to." (http://jackcanfield.com/utilizing-the-law-of-attraction/)  John's uncle saw himself as a failure as a driver and despite his best efforts, he couldn't shake that belief.  Some individuals, however, have turned it around, despite the odds being stacked against them.

In 1957, a young Homer Hickam was growing up in Virginia where all the boys became coal miners. His father fully expected him to follow in his footsteps as did most of his teachers.  However, Homer, spurred on by Sputnik, had a dream:  to build a rocket.  He and his three friends would toil for hours in his basement working on their creation.  One day, a wayward rocket demolished Homer's mother's fence.  The "rocket boys" were banished from the house.  Another wayward rocket ended up on the property of the coal mine.  Homer's dad banished the boys from company property.

Homer held on to his dream inspired by his hero Werner von Braun.  There was one teacher who believed in him.  She encouraged her student to enter the science fair.  Homer took his rocket to first the school, the state and the national science fairs, winning every time.  When the first man landed on the moon, Homer was part of the experience, working for NASA.  Homer invited the right people into his life with his positive attitude.  

Note:  For more information on Homer Hickam and the Rocket Boys, visit:  

1.  http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/10/october-sky.html

2.  Watch the film October Sky (1999)

Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal) sets off a rocket in October Sky courtesy http://www.pluggedin.ca/movie-reviews/octobersky/.

Make Your Own Luck

"Even a tortoise will arrive at its destination if it's moving."
(Isaac C. Mwiya)

http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/video/small-suburban-home-with-for-sale-sign-on-lawn-stock-video-footage/393-1

My husband's great Aunt Doris had an idea.  "Let's take a walk and go house hunting," she said to her husband, Uncle Ernst.  He did not want to budge, however.  As a German immigrant, he was trying to find work at Stelco, but to no avail.  But Doris persisted until Ernst finally relented.  They set out on their walk in downtown Hamilton and came upon Liberty Street.  As luck would have it, one of the houses was for sale.  The owner happened to be out front.  He and Uncle Ernst struck up a conversation.  It turned out he was quitting his job at Stelco and moving back to Scotland.  Ernst explained how he had been trying to get a job there but had no luck.  The Scottish man promised to put in the good word at Stelco for Ernst.  All he had to do was show up on Monday.  Sure enough, on Monday Ernst went to Stelco where he got a job.  He and Doris bought the house on Liberty Street.  

What would have happened if Ernst had have stayed on the couch that day?  They say that successful people make their own luck.  They don't wait for things to happen.  They make a decision and act.  Business Insider outlines five characteristics about good luck (http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rich-people-make-their-own-luck-2016-2):

1.  Luck hides outside comfort zones.

An open mind and a curious mind is more receptive to possibilities.  

2.  Luck hides inside positivity.

You must see opportunities in order to embrace them.  Problem solving requires creativity and insight.  "Positivity is the fertilizer in which good luck grows."

3.  Luck hides behind courage.

You must take risks.  'Courage is not the absence of fear but the pursuit of something while in the throes of it."  Cultivate the habit of taking educated risks.

4.  Luck hides inside new relationships.  

In order to meet the right person at the right time, you must go out and find him or her.

5.  Luck hides inside intuition.

Intuition is when your subconscious communicates with your conscious.  

http://jmcustomfitness.com/make-your-own-luck/

Self-Made Millionaire Knew the Value of Hard Work

"The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does." 

(Napoleon Hill)

A few years after we bought our house, Rob and I had a small hole developping in the backyard.  It turned out the soil was eroding due to the eavestrough drain.  We hired someone to lengthen the eavestrough pipe and bury it underground.  On the appointed day, it was drizzling rain.  At the appointed time, the man never showed up.  Rob phoned him to inquire and his response was:  "You don't expect me to work in the rain!"  

Nothing replaces hard work.  Self-made millionaire Andrew Carnegie knew that.  The Scotsman immigrated to America in 1848 almost penniless.  By 1901. he was the richest man in the world.  How did he establish his empire?  

As a teenager, Carnegie worked at a textile mill. Later, he worked as a telegrapher.  At 18, he became a personal secretary of a top manager of the railroad.  At 30, he was already the head of the Pittsburgh railroad.  In 1861, Carnegie invested in oil.  By 1873, he helped build the the steel business.  By 1900, he was making $40 million dollars in profits.  In the Gospel of Wealth (1889) Carnegie had written: "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced."  Keeping to his word, he donated $350 million of his profits to worthy causes, including $60 million to build 3000 libraries across North America and the United Kingdom.

http://www.gettyimages.ca/photos/andrew-carnegie?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=andrew%20carnegie

Embrace Failure Until You Succeed

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." (Thomas Edison)

• Einstein's teachers said he would "never amount to anything."
• Scientist John Gurdon was told by a teacher that it would be "ridiculous" for him to go into science.
• J. K. Rowling received 12 rejections for her Harry Potter manuscript before it was accepted.
• Basketball legend Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team.
• Walt Disney was fired from his job at the Kansas City Star due to "lack of creativity".
• The inventor of the Xerox (photocopier) machine was rejected 20 times.
• Peanuts creator Charles Schulz's cartoons were all rejected by his high school yearbook.
• Thomas Edison failed at least 1000 times when creating inventions.
• Colonel Sanders was rejected dozens of times for his fried chicken recipe.  He didn't sell one franchise until the age of 65 when he was on Social Security.
• Fred Astaire was told:  "Can't sing.  Can't act.  Balding.  Can dance a little."  

If any one of these individuals had given up on their goals after failing, we wouldn't recognize their names today.  Too many people see failure as completely bad.  But failure is part of the process.  It's something we encounter on the road to success.    

It's all about perspective.  I have blogged a lot about authors and how they were finally discovered.  One author, rather than seeing her rejection letters as embarrassing, rather than seeing them as something to throw out, saves them all in a manila enveloppe marked "Tickets to the Game".  While she might not have a "yes" yet, she is still much further ahead than the author who doesn't stick her neck out at all.  At least she's in the game (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2014/11/tickets-to-game.html).

The concept works in the field of science as well.  When Thomas Edison finally invented the lightbulb, someone asked him how he felt about failing 1000 times.  His response was:  "I never failed 1000 times.  The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps."  Edison didn't apologize for his many failures.  He didn't make excuses.  He simply refused to give up.  He learned from his mistakes. "Failure is one of life's greatest teachers" (http://www.success.com/article/why-failure-is-good-for-success).

Look at the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.  Sadly, Apollo 1 never made it off the launch pad and its crew died in a deadly fire.  Apollo 13 made it out into space but as it approached the moon it had a major mechanical failure and had to circle the moon and return home.  But Apollo 11 did reach the moon, making the Americans the winners of the Space Race, and later of the Cold War.  The Space program involved great risk, but it also reaped great rewards.

Author John Maxwell wrote Failing Forward:  Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones to Success (https://www.amazon.ca/Failing-Forward-Turning-Mistakes-Stepping/dp/1491513136).  He reminds his readers that "great success depends on great risk".  He recommends to his readers to "confidently look the prospect of failure in the eye...to stop failing backwards and start failing forwards."  While society doesn't reward defeat, it does recognize those who turned their mistakes into stepping stones to success, like an author and her rejection slips or Thomas Edison and his lightbulb or the Space Race and its rockets.

Don't shy away from failure.  Embrace it...until you succeed.

http://pics-about-space.com/nasa-failures-and-successes?p=1

Think & Grow Rich: Words of Wisdom for All

"Desire, faith and persistence can propel one to great heights if one an suppress negative thoughts and focus on long term goals." (Napoleon Hill)

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie challenged a young Napoleon Hill to interview 500 self-made millionaires (Thomas Edison, Henry Ford) to find out what their secret to success was.  The purpose of the assignment was not so much to find out how these successful businessmen made their money, but what made them tick.  The result was Think and Grow Rich, the entrepreneur's bible, a book which sold 5000 copies in the first six weeks and over 100 million copies as of 2015.  

Here are the principles outlined by Napoleon Hill that all 500 self made millionaires exhibited, summarized  at http://www.businessinsider.com/napoleon-hill-think-and-grow-rich-2015-7:

1.  Burning Desire:  You have to want to achieve your goal more than anything else.

"Wishing will not bring wishes, but desiring wishes with a state of mind that brings an obsession, then planning ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches."

When my husband and I decided to adopt a baby, I was on a mission.  Nobody could stop me.  I put blinders on.  I blocked out all of the horror stories I had heard about couples not getting babies and I focussed on the success stories.  I prepared myself by attending workshops and retreats and reading books about the subject.  After seven months on Beginnings Adoption Agency list, we had a bouncing baby boy.  

2.  Faith:  Believe in yourself!

"Riches begin in the form of thought.  The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the thought is put into motion.  Faith removes limitations!"

As Henry Ford once said:  "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right."  If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will.  When we were waiting for a baby, I saw successful adoptive couples and said:  "If they can do it, so can we!"

3.  Auto-suggestion:  Use affirmations to reach your goal.

"Your ability to use the principle of auto-suggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession."

Send your subconscious mind phrases which support your goal.  Repeat aloud positive mantras.  In an effort to find a baby to adopt, I handed out over 400 business cards.  My networking led me to an elderly man at the local pool.  Every time I saw him, he would say:  "Linda, I'm going to show up at your door on Christmas Eve with a bundle of joy in my arms."  That was a daily affirmation.  I'm sure it helped my confidence.  The man at the pool proved to be a prophet:  two days before Christmas Eve, we brought home our baby boy.

4.  Specialized Knowledge:  Gain experience and continue learning.

"Successful men, in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized knowledge related to their major purpose, business or profession.  Those who are not successful usually make the mistake of believing that the knowledge acquiring period ends when one finishes school."

Signing the adoption papers was not the end of our adoption journey.  Rob and I take it one year at a time.  There is no manual about open adoption to follow.  As a baby, Thomas heard the world "adopted".  As a five year old, we told him who his birthparents were.  As a high school graduate, his birthparents came to his ceremony.  Thomas will always have a relationship with his birthparents.

5.  Come up with ideas and visualize your success.

"Whoever you are, wherever you may live, whatever occupation you may be engaged in, just remember in the future, every time you see the words 'Coca-Cola', that its vast empire of wealth and influence grew out of a single idea."

I used to visualize myself holding a baby.  

6.  Organized Planning:  Take Action

"Opportunity has spread its wares before you.  Step up to the front, select what you want, create your plan, put your plan into action, and follow through with persistence."

Friends from our old church were given a baby boy to adopt, only to have the baby taken away after 3 or 4 days once the birthmother changed her mind.  They were devastated.  But they got right back on the horse and soon after adopted a healthy baby girl.

7.  Decision:  Defeat procrastination with decisiveness

"People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions very often."

It took me nine months to potty train Thomas.  He was forever in pull ups.  I wasn't messing around with my second child.  Jacqueline went right into underwear and was potty trained within a week.  

8.  Persistence:  Don't stop until you get what you want.

"Riches do not respond to wishes.  They respond only to definite plans. backed by definite desires, through constant persistence."

My sister was required to run a mile in 8 minutes as part of getting a Physed degree at McMaster University.  She was in top physical condition, working at Lady Fitness at the time, but she couldn't run against a clock.  She tried for three years, but failed, and was kicked out of the program.  Two years later, she was offered re-entry into the program if she succeeded.  She trained for six months with a trainer and made the run in 7 minutes, 50 seconds.  Today, she has her B.A. and B.Ed.

9.  Power of the mastermind:  Surround yourself with the best.

"A group of brains, co-ordinated in a spirit of harmony, will provide more thought energy than a single brain, just as a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery."  

You tend to become like those you surround yourself with.  

10.  The Mystery of Sex Transmutation:  Choose a compatible partner.

"Sex desire is the most powerful of all human desires.  When driven by this desire, men develop keenness of imagination, courage, willpower, persistence and creative ability unknown to them at other times."

Behind every good man is a good woman.

11.  The Subconscious Mind:  Master positivity and dismiss negative emotions

"Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time.  One or the other must dominate.  It is your responsibility to make sure that positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind."

Read the bestseller The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.

12.  The Brain:  Associate with other smart people and learn from them

"Every human brain is capable of picking up vibrations of thought which are being released by other brains."

13.  The Sixth Sense:  Trust your gut.

"No matter who you are, or what your purpose is in reading this book, you can profit by it without understanding the principle described in this chapter."

Always trust your instincts.  They are usually right.

Think and Grow Rich (1937) has sold over 100 million copies courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_and_Grow_Rich.

The Purpose Driven Life

"Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about discovering who God created you to be."
(Evan Carmichael)

It sat on the New York Times Bestseller List for over 90 weeks.  It sold 30 million copies in its first five years.  NFL legend Ray Lewis gave it to Michael Phelps to read when he entered rehab.  It became and remains the bestselling non-fiction hardcover book of all time.  Why?  According to its author Rick Warren, it speaks to people, to their "spiritual emptiness".

The Purpose Driven Life poses the $64,000 question "What on earth am I here for?"  Rick Warren says that you are not an accident.  That God put you here for a purpose.  It's not a self-serving purpose.  Warren starts his book with the simple phrase:  "It's not about you."  No, it's about your "stewardship of influence".  For example, one of Rick Warren's stewardship of influences is his commitment to care for the environment, to leave this planet a little bit better for his children and grandchildren.  

The author, also a pastor of an affluent church in California, made a substantial amount of money on his book.  It would have been easy to start living the good life.  However, Rick Warren and his wife, who used to tithe, decided to start re-tithing.  Rather than giving 10% of their income to charity, they now give 90% of their income to charity.  He also set up numerous foundations to help those in need around the world.  He explains:  "Every time I give, it breaks the grip of materialism on my life.  Living the good life means being good, doing good."

In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says that everyone has a world view.  It governs our behaviour, our relationship, every area of our lives.  Our world view is only truly tested when we go through the valleys, not when we're on the mountaintop.  God calls us to look after the widows and the orphans.  

The pastor mentions the story of Moses and his staff, which God turns into a snake and then returns it to its original form.  Moses staff was everything to him:  it represented his identity (a shepherd), his assets (his job) and his influence (his status in society).  Moses' staff was similar to an NBA player's basketball; again, it represented his whole world.  Rick Warren's question to you is:  "What are you going to do with your "staff"?  What are you going to do with what God has given you?  You don't have to be rich.  You don't have to be powerful.  God rejoices when he sees you do what he wired you to do.  Are you going to fulfill your God-given purpose?

Note:  To watch Rick Warren's TED talk about The Purpose Driven Life, visit https://www.ted.com/talks/rick_warren_on_a_life_of_purpose.

https://www.pinterest.com/hsveteran/purpose-driven-life/