Another who said "Yes I Can".

H. Ross Perot, a proud Texan, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1953. After serving his tour of duty, he became a salesperson for IBM. Wanting his own business, he borrowed the money from his father-in-law to establish Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Dallas in 1962. The company, employing 70,000 people, made Perot a multimillionaire, then a billionaire when he took the company public in 1968.

He began a crusade to lobby for the release of the American POW's in Vietnam in 1969. In 1979, two EDS employees were taken hostage by the Iranian government. When U.S. government efforts to rescue the employees slowed to a crawl due to "red tape" and politics, Perot financed and arranged for a commando raid of EDS employees led by retired Green Beret Colonel Arthur "Bull" Simons. Perot himself went to Iran and entered the prison where his men were held. Ken Follet wrote a best selling novel, On Wings of Eagles, about the rescue. AN NBC miniseries was later made from the book.

Perot sold EDS in 1984 to General Motors for $2.5 billion. He retained ownership in the company, which made him GM's largest individual stockholder and a member of the board of directors. From the start, Perot and GM head Roger Smith quarreled, and Perot criticized the quality of GM automobiles and made "radical" suggestions such as moving the CEO's office from high atop the golden towers of the GM building to a local plant location where he could get a better feel for the business and communicate with his employees. Perot also suggested that Smith actually drive to work in a GM vehicle rather than being chauffeured to work every day in a corporate limousine, thus getting an actual feel for his product. GM employees soon had more respect for and rapport wit Perot than they did the majority of the corporate leadership team.
In 1986, GM bought out Perot's stock for $700 million. Two years later, he started a new computer service company, Perot Systems, which operates in the U.S and Europe.

I didn't write this myself. It is info I found on the web. I just think its a great story. Imagine if the GM executives had just listened to him?

Please leave your thoughts, and until next time ~ CIAO!

To Those Who Never Quit

In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of Blue Moon Modeling Agency, told a modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." She went on to become Marilyn Monroe.

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry fired a singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." He went on to become the most popular singer in America, Elvis Presley.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"

When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000 step process."

In the 1940's, a young inventor named Chester Carlson took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country. They all turned him down. In 1947 - after 7 long years of rejections, he finally got a tiny company in Rochester, NY, the Haloid Company, to purchase the rights to his invention, an electrostatic paper-copying process. Haloid went on to become the Xerox Corporation.

Wilma Rudolph was the twentieth of 22 children. She was born prematurely, and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her paralyzed in the left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal brace she had been dependent on, and began to walk without it. By 13, she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year, she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years, every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day, she actually won a race. And then another. From then on, she won every race she entered. Eventually, this little girl who was told she would never walk again, went on to win three Olympic Gold Metals.

A tip of the hat to Harry K. Jones. More to come ~ but please, leave a comment or share a story.

OK, so now what?

Well, for starters, get rid of negativity. Shut off or limit the stuff they call "news." I've watched the local news and heard stories that are depressing as hell, and don't now, nor ever will, have anything to do with me. Yet it just beats me down. So and so in New Bedford was stabbed, a fire in Woonsocket, an accident in Westerly, etc. I don't mean to be cold to those who these obvious tragedy's affect, but I just don't want to spend 30 minutes of my day hearing this crap any more. A friend of mine and I recently discussed a TV show called, "Good News", based on stories like those discussed earlier, along with uplifting pieces that would just lighten the day. NBC Nightly News ran similar pieces at the end of its show, throughout the holidays, and discovered people loved it! Yes, Jessica was born with a serious issue, but to her, it was a challenge and an opportunity to do something others thought impossible. She flies a plane for goodness sake! I have arms, and the thought of me flying my own plane is not high on my bucket list!

And yes, Steve and Randy both passed on, but no one gets out f here alive, and they used what limited time they had, and they knew it was extremely limited, to do things they hoped would make a positive difference in the lives of others. On Face Book, I am always amazed when I see people post about the weather or how they hate their jobs. "Going to brush my teeth", "Just brushed my teeth!", "Wow, my teeth sure feel minty fresh", "Can't wait to brush my teeth again!" Really? Seriously, really? How about if people started to comment on positive things in their life so that all who were reading them felt a little better each day? Tall trees grow from small seed. It can be a random act of kindness, a great workout, an unexpected hug from someone, a moment with a pet, or an adventure with a child. Pay it forward. We've all seen the insurance company commercial where someone helps another, while someone happens to observe the act. Next they show the observer reaching out to a fellow traveler on this trip we call life. Believe me, people in ad agencies have researched this extensively because these ad's cost millions to produce. It works.

The Oprah Factor

I recently heard someone say that the reason the TV news usually features bad news is because we wouldn't watch if it were all good news. Has it really come to that? Have we become so engrossed in turmoil and destruction that we need to view others misery to make ourselves feel better? How often do we hear people say that it's not their fault"? Well, with all due respect to the Queen of talk TV, and her legion of wannabes (IE. Dr. Phil, Ellen, Tyra, etc, etc etc), I've grown weary of people going on these shows to tell the world that the reality of their lives is not their fault. "Well Oprah, it's not my fault I weigh 500 pounds: its that Mommy didn't hug me enough!" OK, this may be a little drastic, but you get my point. How many of us have sat there yelling at the TV, "Put the cupcake down and move away from the french fries!" I remember watching the Oscar's one night, with the great comedian Steve Martin hosting. A sculptured hunk presenter came out to hand Steve the statue to be presented in some category. Steve looked at the guy and said, "I'd do anything to look like that. Well, except diet and exercise." And there you have it. We all have the power to be better than we are, but to many of us still use reasons to except who we are. I was watching the latest Rocky movie last night, "Rocky 27 The Geriatric Years" I think was the title, and he had a great little speech to his son. The son was complaining that his Father's actions were making his life harder, and the Rock said something to the effect of, "Don't let the actions of others dictate your life. You have the power to define your own life." Wow, this from Rocky!!

I recently read an article about a young woman, Jessica Cox, who was born with a very serious birth defect. She was born with no arms, and has lived her life using her feet to accomplish all the things most of us just take for granted. She can now play the piano, put in her contact lens, text message, and even drive a car, using her feet! As a holder of a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, there wasn't much that scared her. Except flying. Adopting her own Many Reasons No Excuses philosophy, she went out and earned her pilot's license. She is now flying solo, and lands the plane, using her feet! This is a young woman who had every right to sit at home, and complain about her lot in life. But not Jessica. Where others saw obstacles, she saw opportunity. With her lucky flying tee shirt emblazoned with her motto, "Look Ma, No Hands!", she truly reaches new heights in the Many Reasons No Excuses world of can do attitude.

Well, that's it for Blog #1. Please feel free to comment, and thank you taking the time to read my rant! Happy New Year!!