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Monday, April 25, 2016

Could Everything Be Rigged In Our Favor?

Imagine my surprise when a blog I wrote over a year ago popped up on my screen. There must be a logical reason for this sudden appearance, but I choose to believe the Universe is conspiring in my favor. There is a personal challenge I am about to start and this little written nudge made me laugh out loud. Usually my words come back to haunt me, today they came back to push me to achieve my goal. This blog was put together with the words and wisdom of others and it was good to read it again. If you are embarking on a new road today, maybe it will be just what you need. xoxo. Here it is....



A wonderful writer, speaker, philosopher and church leader Jeffrey Holland once wrote about the universal problem that hits all of us.  He said doubt, discouragement, and despair blocks our growth, dampens our spirits, diminishes our hope and leaves us vulnerable to other troubles.  His words from March of1980...
"I speak of doubt - especially self-doubt, of discouragement, and of despair.  In doing so I don't wish to suggest that there aren't plenty of things in the world to be troubled by.  In our lives, individually and collectively, there surely are serious threats to our happiness.  I watch an early morning news broadcast while I shave and then read a daily newspaper.  That is enough to ruin anyone's day and by then it is only 6:30 in the morning.  Iran, Afghanistan, inflation, energy, jogging, mass murders, kidnapping, unemployment, floods. With all of this waiting for us we are tempted, as W.C Fields once said, to "smile first thing in the morning and get it over with."

We come back to choice...choice of how we view everything.  

Here is a distinction F.Scott Fitzgerald once made, that "trouble has no necessary connection with discouragement-discouragement has a germ of its own" (The Crack-Up 1945)

As my friend Valerie continues to tell me, "Events are neutral" Hard to believe but so, so true.  We get to choose how we react, we really are the captain of our ships.

From his talk "For times of Trouble" Jeffrey Holland wrote of a story I love.  "Thomas Edison devoted ten years and all of his money to developing the nicks-alkaline storage battery at a time when he was almost penniless.  Through that period of time, his record and film production was supporting the storage battery effort.  Then one night the terrifying cry of fire echoed through the film plant.  Spontaneous combustion had ignited some chemicals.  Within moments all of the packing compounds, celluloid for records, film, and other flammable goods had gone up with a roar.  Fire companies from eight towns arrived, but the fire and heat were so intense and the water pressure so low that the fire hoses had no effect.  Edison was sixty-seven years old-no age to begin anew.  His son Charles was frantic, wondering if he were safe, if his spirits were broken, and how would he handle a crisis such as this at his age.  Charles saw his father running toward him.  He spoke first.

He said, "Where is your mother? Go get her. Tell her to get her friends.  They'll never see another fire like this as long as they live!"  

At 5:30 the next morning, with the fire barely under control, he called his employees together and announced, "We're rebuilding."  One man was told to lease all the machine shops in the area, another to obtain a wrecking crane from the Erie Railroad Company.  Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "Oh by the way, anybody know where we can get some money?" (paraphrased from Charles Edison, "my most unforgettable character," Reader's Digest December 1961, pp. 175-77)
Virtually everything you now recognize as a Thomas Edison contribution to your life came after that disaster.  A disaster I think I would have not recovered from.



 



Remember, "Trouble has no necessary connection with discouragement-discouragement has a germ of its own."

Why didn't Thomas Edison quit?  What is it about some people that they never quit?  I believe William Shakespeare said it best (doesn't he always?) Remember, dear Brutus, "The fault....is not in our stars, but in ourselves"


I am reading this today with a new outlook of hope....










25 comments:

  1. Oh I adore that Rumi ". I also adore my mother :-) but she definitely ambles through life reacting as though everything wear rags against her. And I've seen how well that does not work..

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    1. Sometimes what we shouldn't do is the best teacher don't you think?

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  2. LOVE this, Donna! As I'm embarking on a new venture, these are simply perfect words of encouragement and support--and I thank you.

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    1. I knew you would!! We have such incredible powers if we just believed it. I am thrilled about your project. And excited to follow your success. xoxo

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  3. Donna, lovely post. I feel like my writing is always a new adventure and though I LOVE DOING IT, that fear at the back of my brain--you suck at this--is often there. But I won't stop. And I know you won't either. Thanks for this.

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    1. Every time you hear a negative thought remember...it is not real. those thoughts are not real. and they aren't true. How does that make you feel? You suck at this? It has to make you feel horrible. So stop, you can choose to love your writing..love your message....and when you do, everyone else will also. I know you won't stop because you already would have!! Thank you for stopping and leaving a message. xoxo

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  4. I love this post. But I have to admit: the best part is that I can see your personality all over it. And your gorgeous face.

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    1. Thank you my dear friend, what lovely words!! Our best days are ahead without a doubt!

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  5. I've always loved Rumi's suggestion-- all 'rigged' in my favor. Oh yea. I'll take it.

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  6. The quote by Thomas Edison...wise words to live by.

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    1. I know, right? And to think all his best stuff happened after 67....I love it!!

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  7. How funny to read this right after my husband and I were just discussing our fears of taking risks. I'm printing that Rumi quote to hang on our office wall right now. :)

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    1. First Thursday in may come with me ok? And every time you begin to fear.....stop and change your thinking to how you will succeed

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  8. How funny to read this right after my husband and I were just discussing our fears of taking risks. I'm printing that Rumi quote to hang on our office wall right now. :)

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  9. What a great quote, I've never seen this Rumi quote before and I so needed to see it again.

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  10. Just beautiful! It is so easy to be bogged down in the negative and when you chose to remain positive it is amazing how much better things are.
    Best wishes with your new endeavor and thank you for sharing such encouraging words.

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    1. Negative is energy blocking and solutions simply don't come. Positive energy provides everything you need to succeed. Thank you so much!!

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  11. I needed this today. Last week I had a day when I felt so defeated in a specific area of my life. It turned around a few days later and I felt relief.

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    1. Motivation in our lives is like having our families tell us they love us. we never could be happy with that happening just once, right? The more we can remember, the more we practice, the easier being positive is. When you feel defeated, ask yourself, "who wins?" it isn't you....you win when you stay strong, accept whatever comes along and find a way to dance to dance with it!!

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  12. Great encouragement to keep trying and never give up! Inspiring post!

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    1. I am surrounded by books about Winston Churchill, he had no quit in him.....thank you for reading!!

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  13. So strange but i was just thinking about Thomas Edison earlier today. I'm not sleeping well these days and I remembered that he only slept a few hours at a time. His brain must have been going all the time and he'd be too excited to sleep for long.

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