©2013 Nim Gholkar All Rights Reserved Thomas A. Edison once said: “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”
I love wise quotes! Love reading them… mulling over them…and enjoy matching them to different situations I encounter along the way. Edison’s wise words were brought home to me a couple of weekends ago at a dinner party I was invited to. As dinner parties go, this was a very different evening altogether. No gossip. No talk about politics, movies, cricket or food. And the best part was that I came away from it much enlightened, with a new perspective on life.
Why was this evening so wonderful, you wonder? I met two lovely people. Husband and wife. Well into their mid sixties. Grey haired. Fragile. And yet, their emotional energy was so powerful and positive that they came across as a combined powerhouse of immense wisdom, grit and determination. As I listened to them mention interesting anecdotes about their life in general, I realised how much there was to be learned from this wonderful couple. ” Tell me your story from the beginning” I pleaded. Fortunately, I have always enjoyed a good story, whether I am reading one or listening to one. They smiled and after much cajoling on my part, decided to tell me an abridged version of their rags to riches story. About how they travelled to a foreign land with only a few dollars in their bank account. How they saw the first, tiny, flickering gleam of a business idea which they later went on to build into something amazingly successful.
What struck me as truly amazing was the number of “nay-sayers” they met right through their journey, especially at the beginning when they were taking their first, hesitant steps towards building their dreams. It seemed everyone they met or spoke to had a million reasons why their idea wouldn’t work. “You are taking a huge risk” someone admonished. ” This will never work” said another. And “Why venture into the unknown? Better the known devil than the unknown” said a few other well-meaning, timid souls.
“Weren’t you tempted to give up?” I asked. By then, I was completely enthralled by their story. This was much better than any conversation about politics, movies or cricket.
“We had faith in ourselves, our dream. Most people want instant success. Overnight glory. It rarely happens that way. The trick is to look at the bigger picture, and take one step, however small, towards your dream every single day. As they say, you may not go far, but at least you are one step further than you were the day before”
I came home and thought long and hard about their words. Sitting next to the heater with my usual cup of bedtime coffee, I pondered over what they had shared. And it is so true. We often tend to give up, because we cannot see instant results of all the hard work we put in. But the trick, as shared by the silver haired couple, is to persist. Keep chipping away. Success may seem a far-off dream, but it will remain evasive if you don’t take the first step towards it.
As Tony Gaskins said so wisely and so ingeniously: ” If you don’t build your own dream, someone will hire you to build theirs“