Gtcotr/ss120124
You are either coming from your greatest day, at your greatest day, or headed to your greatest day … and the truth is – it’s up to you!
One of the saddest things I have seen in my life is when a person wakes up with no hope for their future.
It can be devastating to experience the death of a dream, but even more devastating would be the choice to never dream again.
Many times people allow failure to determine their future.
A difficult past will either be the grave you are buried in, or the university you graduate from. It will all be determined by your next decision.
Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, failed at every early attempt and went broke five times before he finally succeeded in manufacturing and marketing the early American motor car.
R H Macy, the founder of Macy’s Department Stores, started seven failed businesses before making it big on 34th Street in New York.
Harland David Sanders, a.k.a. Colonel Sanders, founder of the famed Kentucky Fried Chicken, faced several critics and plenty of opportunity to quit and try something else. His famous secret chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times before he finally found a restaurant who would accept it. KFC is now the second largest food chain in the world with more than 30K locations in over 150 countries.
Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4 years old and did not read until he was 7. His teachers and parents thought he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually he was expelled from school and was later in life refused admittance to college only to go on to win the Nobel Prize and change the face of modern physics.
Thomas Edison’s teachers told him that he was “too stupid to learn anything.” Then, as a young man he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Edison went on to make 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb before he finally found a design that worked.
Winston Churchill struggled in school and even failed the sixth grade. Nonetheless he was determined to have a career in politics. However, for many years he continued to lose, in fact he lost every election for public office until he finally became the Prime Minister of England at the age of 62.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Military at one of its most critical moments, was not at first successful in his military career. Early on he went to war as a captain and returned home with the rank of private. He went absolutely as low as you can go, but he didn’t stop there. He continued to fail in business after business and was defeated numerous times while running for office.
1832 – Ran for State Legislature – lost.
1832 – Applied for law school – couldn’t get accepted.
1836 – Had a total nervous breakdown and was bedridden 6 months
1838 – Ran for speaker of the house in his state – lost.
1840 – Sought to become elector in his state – lost.
1843 – Ran for Congress – lost.
1849 – Sought job of land officer in his home state – rejected.
1854 – Ran for Senate of the US – lost
1856 – Sought the VP nomination of his party – got less than 100 votes.
1858 – Ran for US Senate again – again he lost
1860 – Elected as the 16th President of the United States of America.
All in all, Abraham Lincoln lost 8 elections, failed in business twice and had a complete nervous breakdown before succeeding to become one of the greatest presidents our country, and arguably any other country in the history of the world for that matter, has ever known.
I can go on, and on, and on with success story after success story, people from all walks of life, who endured hardship and criticism, difficulties, rejections and defeats, but who never quit, never lost their focus, never gave up and eventually went on to build their dream.
People like Michael Jordan who knows the price of success.
Did you know that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team? But he didn’t let that setback or what others thought about him stop him from playing the game he loved and pursuing the dream he had. He said, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”
The pressures of life are meant to mold us, not move us.
Don’t mistake dissatisfaction for direction.
Often what needs to change are not the things around you but things inside of you.
Don’t abandon what God has given you trying to get what He has not.
Don’t take a temporary situation and create a permanent problem.
You may not need to change what you are doing, but simply change how you are doing it.
Don’t think for one minute that God hasn’t been disappointed. In fact, it’s one of the first things we are told in the Bible.
Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
What should we do when we experience failure, a disappointment, or find ourselves with something we have that is not what we want? Do what God does. You can’t fix everything, but you can try it again …
You are either coming from your greatest day, at your greatest day, or headed to your greatest day. The choice is yours!
Providing Jesus knows you, on the day you draw your last breath on planet earth you can confidently say, “My greatest day is yet ahead!”
Don’t go one more day without God’s dream for your future.
God is your Father … dream big!
