Chapter 17 Difficulty does not equal misfortune

Throughout history, many world-famous figures have had physical disabilities.Such as: Sir Byron had clubfoot, Julius Caesar suffered from epilepsy, Beethoven became deaf due to illness, Napoleon was a famous short man, Mozart suffered from liver disease, Franklin Roosevelt suffered from polio patients, and Helen Keller has been deaf and blind since she was a child, including the celebrity we will mention below. How many people don’t know their achievements? In my neighborhood, a man named Edward Dorsey ran a car rental shop, specializing in luxury coaches.I admire this man very much.He is very good at listening to people, open-minded, and likes to accept new things, with multiple talents.Once, in the course of our conversation, we came across a topic that we thought that the great and successful people are usually also people who can overcome difficulties.Then Edward asked me, "Have you ever heard of a famous person named Nathani Boldzi?"

I asked him if the man was very skilled in navigation. Edward replied: "Yes, that's him! Nadani Baldzi was born in 1773 and died at the age of 65. From the time he was sensible to the age of 10, he mostly studied by himself, such as Latin, etc. , so he could read Newton's "Principles of Mathematics". After 10 years, he was already considered a very good mathematician. Because he liked sailing, he began to learn sailing again. It is said that on a voyage, he taught the crew (including the ship's cook) How to calculate the position of a ship by observing the relationship between the moon and the constellations. Later, he wrote a very classic book on navigation. This is, for a person with little formal education, a A very difficult thing, don't you think so?"

I strongly agree with Edward's point of view.Bao Deqi is indeed a person who is not afraid of dangers and overcomes many difficulties.Maybe no one told him: "To be a scientist, university education is an indispensable training." Therefore, he can rush forward regardless of everything, and obtain all kinds of necessary knowledge by self-study.To a man like Nathani Bordzi or Edward Dosh, difficulties were nothing at all, they never took them seriously. Loey Smith has written a very inspiring biography "A Whole Life--At Death's Gate", the protagonist of this story is Elmo Helm.Elmo Helm was born in Hunterville, Ohio, when his physician said: "The baby has little chance of surviving."

But Herm survived. At the age of 28, he became a preacher in the Methodist Church.He had been through two fatal accidents, neither of which caused him to lose confidence in life. Instead, he attracted the attention of the famous chocolate maker John Wheeler, which helped him a lot financially. After several months passed, the missionary who fell at the gate of death was discharged from the hospital smoothly. Elmo Helm began building churches, raising missionary funds, and helping local schools and hospitals from time to time. The "one-lung" evangelist has raised nearly more than $3 million for charities he deems meaningful.He "retired" at the age of 69, but chose to continue with other jobs.

Since then, he has given thousands of sermons, written two books, raised $500,000 for churches and other charities, served on the boards of more than 20 professional schools, and personally donated $50,000 to build the University of California A church nearby. For 90 years, although he suffered from constant pain due to severe injuries to the right side of his body, he still did not succumb to death. Elmo Helm had never known the meaning of the word "flaw."He only knows that he has life, and that life has a purpose. He put his 90s to good use and made his name synonymous with "courage".

In the eyes of those who like to evade responsibility, difficulties are their best shield.You've probably heard many people blame their failure on not having a college education.In fact, even if these people did receive a college education, they could still find a lot of reasons for themselves.But a truly mature person will not be like this, they will not find excuses to avoid difficulties, but try their best to overcome and overcome difficulties. After encountering some obstacles at work, Alexander Bell complained to his friend Joseph Henry, thinking that it was entirely due to his lack of knowledge about motors.Joseph Henry, the dean of an engineering college in the Washington area, agreed with Bell, but did not say to Bell, "It's unfortunate, Alexander, that you didn't have the opportunity to study electrical engineering. It's a pity!"

Nor did he tell Bell how to ask his parents for help, or how to apply for a scholarship.He simply said to Bell: "Go read it!" Sure enough, Alexander Bell went to study courses on electrical machinery, and finally made his own very large contribution to communication science. Carlton Graves lived in New Jersey and was a businessman.One day, he was driving through an intersection in Murray Town, just in time to meet a blind young woman who was leading a dog across the street, so Carlton stepped on the brakes and stopped the car. Not long after the car stopped there, a strange man came to Carlton's car. It turned out that he was the young woman's trainer.

The man explained: "In the future, please don't brake suddenly, just like you did just now. This dog is trained to prevent traffic accidents, so if every car stops like just now, the dog will think it's the right thing to do. the situation without being particularly vigilant. That way, if a car doesn’t stop like this, an accident will happen.” This story made an extremely deep impression on me.Not only because the trainer was right, but also because I learned that the young woman could use this kind of training to overcome her shortcomings and continue her normal life. It is undeniable that these people are people with mature hearts.They will not be trapped in their own difficulties, but face it bravely, accept it, and then find ways to overcome and solve it.They don't beg for mercy, they don't despair, and they don't look for excuses to shirk responsibility.

In real life, many people complain that they are too poor.So, is poverty the most powerful reason for failure? US President Herbert Hoover was the son of a blacksmith in Iowa and later became an orphan; Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM, worked as a bookkeeper in his youth and earned only $2 a week.None of these famously successful people suffered any hindrance because of the factor of poverty.They are so absorbed in their work that they have no time for self-pity or complaints. George Bernard Shaw was disgusted by those who constantly complained about their circumstances.He said: "People often complain that their environment is not going well, so they don't achieve much. I don't believe that. If you can't get the environment you want, you can create one!"

In fact, if everyone complains about the bad environment all the time, of course they will attribute their faults to "defects" or various other reasons.When I was young, I was often discouraged by being taller than other people.As the years passed, it dawned on me that height can be a good thing or a bad thing, it all depends on your own attitude. If others are rich and you are poor; if others have two legs and you have only one; Being different is likely to be your own flaw - as long as you admit it to yourself! Mentally immature people always see their differences as flaws, obstacles, and expect special treatment from them.Mentally mature people, on the other hand, recognize their differences before deciding whether to accept them or improve upon them.

So if you want to mature yourself, remember the second principle: Difficulty does not mean unhappiness, maybe it will be a kind of lucky beginning.