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.