Perseverance & tenacity are omnipotent

Hi Gordon & all:

I'd agree that many people, in their life, eventually "fit" the labels other people give them. Call a child stupid often enough and they will probably eventually believe it. And live it.

Many people. But not all.

The late Irving Stone spent a lifetime writing novelized biographies of great people such as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, etc. Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of exceptional people. He said;

"They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified, and for years they get nowhere. But every time they're knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they've accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do."

Flashback in time.

I remember being in high school, grade 10, and sitting down at the kitchen table to talk to my father. Explaining to him that I wanted to go to university after I graduated. I was an honor student and felt I would qualify for a scholarship, which would help with the fees.

My father looked at me for a few minutes.

Then he told me that he believed university was a waste of money for girls because most girls will not end up being anything more a wife and mother anyway, so he couldn't see a reason to justify wasting that kind of money on me.

He went on to say that he's "real proud" of my marks, but those marks won't really mean all that much when I'm busy changing diapers anyway.

I asked one more time. And got the same answer again.

I accelerated my way through high school, completing the recommended courses early, and by grade 12, I was only in high school for one morning class (mandatory English) and took business classes in the afternoon - and worked in the evening.

Other times, it was the other way around... if I had a class that ran in the evening, I worked in the afternoon.

By 19, I was in management at Canada's largest retail department chain. At that time, there were only two female management staff in the entire department store - and I was one of them.

By 21, I was travelling between three cities to help other stores achieve the same sales increases that I'd generated in our local store.

Some people will definitely fit into the mold you pour for them.

Others, will set out to show exactly how wrong that label is. And the more anyone tries to label them, the more determined they will become.

Perseverance and tenacity - are omnipotent.

Just my two cents...
(three with the exchange)

: )
Linda




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