More than hundred
years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and to his surprise and
horror, read his name in the obituary column. The newspaper had
reported the death of the wrong person by mistake. His first response
was shock. “Am I here or there?” When he regained his composure, his
second thought was to find out what people said about him.
The
obituary read, “Dynamite King Dies.” And also “He was the merchant of
death.” This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words
“merchant of death,” he asked himself a question, “Is this how I am
going to be remembered?” He got in touch with his feelings and decided
that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day on,
he started working toward peace. His name was Alfred Nobel and he is
remembered today by the great Nobel Prize.
I have said it here
time without number that the only perfect human being is the person who
can walk on water and I don’t know if there is any human being who can
do that. It goes to show that as human beings, we are bound to make
mistakes. But the problem is, some of us don’t learn from our mistakes.
Some think it’s too late to make corrections. But come to think of it,
is it ever late to start over again?
Colonel Sanders had the
construction of a new road put him out of business in 1967 and so he
retired from the railroad broke and alone at 65 years! He got his first
Social Security check for $105, and he got mad. But instead of blaming
society or just writing congress a nasty note, he started asking
himself, “What could I do that would be valuable for other people? His
first answer was, well I have this chicken recipe everyone seems to
love! He went and started knocking on doors, telling each restaurant
owner his story; “I’ve got great chicken recipe, and I think if you use
it, it will increase your sales. And I’ like to get a percentage of that
increase.”
Well, many people laughed. They said, “Look, old
man, get out of here. What are you wearing that stupid white suit for?”
Instead of feeling bad about the last restaurant that had rejected his
idea, he immediately started focusing on how to tell his story more
effectively and get better results from the next restaurant. He spent
two years driving across America in his old, beat-up car, sleeping in
the back seat in his rumpled white suit because he couldn’t afford a
motel room, getting up each day eager to share his idea with someone
new. Often, the only food he had was a quick bite of the sample he was
preparing for prospective buyers.
All in all, Colonel Sanders
was rejected 1, 001 times before he heard his first yes. Few years
later, at the age of seventy-five, Colonel Sanders sold his fried
chicken company for a finger-licking $15 million! Today there are
thousands of Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in hundreds of countries
all over the world.
Dear reader, that you are alive means you
still have the opportunity to make corrections in any aspect of your
life. Be bold enough to take responsibility. I believe in you. I know
you can make it.
This inspirational was initially Posted by Uju Onyechinyere on Facebook.