"Some [wo]men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream
things that never were and ask why not."
Robert Kennedy
Imagine
if you current life situation included the following:
·
Your first words are
uttered at the age of 4
·
You have less than 4
years of official schooling at the junior level
·
Your teachers think
you will amount to nothing
·
You have dyslexia
·
You are rejected 30
times while trying to promote your first piece of work
·
While a kid you are
molested by family members
·
You decide to apply
to film school but you get rejected not just once but twice
When
I read the above list I couldn't help but ask myself what could anyone accomplish
in their life if they had to deal with all, or even only one of these adversities. Can you imagine how many job interviews you
would get if you had less than four months of junior school training? I am sure
you would eventually get an interview but only after being rejected countless
of times. Do you have what it takes to overcome the abundance of rejection? In
fact, let's imagine you got up one day and felt inspired to write a book. How
would you feel if your work, which represented your finest piece of work, was
rejected not once, not ten times and not even twenty times? Let us say your
work was rejected a total of thirty times; would you feel inspired to continue,
rejected or just give up?
How
would you deal with being molested by not just one or two but by three family
members? My guess is that for many of us just making it through such a
despicable ordeal would be a great accomplishment.
Imagine
if you suffered with Dyslexia; how would you even begin to learn to read and/or
write? Can you imagine going through the junior high and senior high school
time of your life with this reading and/or writing challenge? We all know how some kids can be when they
see another kid who is perceived as different in some way. Let’s be honest, some of them can be terribly
mean spirited.
Let
us imagine that ever since you were a kid your teachers told you that you would
amount to nothing. Could you imagine how
that would feel? Now imagine how that
would feel if you were a kid? Let’s assume you make it through that ordeal and
you go on to apply for college. In fact, let's say you wanted to follow your
passion and decided to apply for film school. How would you feel and what would
you do if you were to get turned down by film school; and not just once but
twice!
You
must be wondering or at least saying to yourself that there is no one on earth
who has faced all of these challenges and rejections. Well, based on my
research you are correct. There is no one that I have come across during my
life or during my research that has experienced all of these challenges but
here is what I found:
- Albert Einstein
– Developed the theory of Relativity
– he did not speak until he was 4 years old and many of his teachers
thought he wouldn’t make anything of himself
- Thomas Edison
– Credited with inventing the practical light
bulb – he had no formal education and was hearing impaired
- Richard Branson
– Developed Virgin Records and is one of the
top ten richest persons in the UK – he had Dyslexia and was a
bad student (didn’t get good marks)
- Stephen King
– He has sold over 350 million copies of his
books - his first novel was rejected 30 times by publishing
houses
- Oprah Winfrey - She is an entrepreneur who is admired by millions and she has
a net worth of approximately $2.9 billion – she was
repeatedly molested by three family members
- Steven
Spielberg – One of the greatest filmmakers of all time –
he was rejected from USC twice; couldn’t get into the film
school of his choice
Amazing
isn't it? Each one of these individuals could have given up but for some reason
they continued. They were determined not to look at their current situation or
adversity and use it as a reason to quit. Instead, they pursued their goals
with relentless endeavor. Now allow me to ask you a question. First think of a
goal or dream you have always dreamed of accomplishing. Ask yourself what is it that has caused you
not to achieve it. Write down the reason, situation or circumstance that has
prevented you from achieving this goal or dream. Now, look at the list of
adversities I wrote at the very beginning of this blog and ask yourself the
following question:
Which
of the following adversities would you prefer to have to overcome in order to
achieve your goal or dream:
1) One
of the adversities listed at the beginning of this blog
or
2) The
current adversity that is holding you back from achieving this goal or dream
My
guess is that most of you would prefer to take on the challenge of your current
situation than most of the adversities mentioned in the list found at the top
of this blog. In fact, let me say this
to you: the fact that these people were able to overcome their adversities and
go on to achieve their dreams and goals prove that it is also possible for you
do the same! So with that said, I
encourage you to go out and write your own story of how you overcame your
adversities to achieve your goals and dreams. In life anything is possible and
that is why in two or three years from today your name can also be one of the
names that comes up under the Google search "successful
people who overcame great adversity and went on to achieve their goals and
dreams".
Well, before I leave you, I want to take this time to leave you with the quote below and to encourage you to take a look at our upcoming events:
If you have a dream, give it a
chance to happen.”
Sources:
Author:
Unleashed Possibilities
(UP) Inc.
Registration Information
Evening
Sessions:
The
Power of Pursuing Your Dream Patrick
Bizindavyi $12 per session 7:00-9:30pm
Date:
Tuesday 21 January, 2014
Time: 7:00 –
9:30pm
Cost: $12
Date: Wednesday
5 February, 2014
Time: 7:00 –
9:30pm
Cost: $12
Date: Wednesday
5 March, 2014
Time: 7:00 –
9:30pm
Cost: $12
Location:
Dora’s Studio
452 Gladstone Avenue (Behind the house)
452 Gladstone Avenue (Behind the house)
Toronto, Ontario
Registration:
Please click on the following link and scroll down
to the Session called “The Power of Pursuing Your
Dream”
Workshop:
“A Journey of a Thousand Miles begins
with a Single Step: How to Transform your
2014 New Year Resolutions/Dreams from a Goal into a Reality.”
Date: Saturday 22nd February, 2014
Time: 10am
– 4pm
Cost: $35
Location: Dora’s Studio
452 Gladstone Avenue (Behind the house)
Cost: $35
Location: Dora’s Studio
452 Gladstone Avenue (Behind the house)
Toronto, Ontario
Registration:
Please click on the following link and scroll down to the workshop
titled “A Journey of a
Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step: How to Transform your 2014 New Year
Resolutions/Dreams from a Goal into a Reality.”
Registration Link: http://www.aangen.com/workshops.asp
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