Chapter 23 Treat difficulties as lucky beginnings

I admire a man, his name is Edward Tejo, who makes a living by driving a taxi.Edward Tejo was versatile, active and helpful, and he knew how to listen to other people's conversations. One day, we talked about some people who overcame adversity and made great contributions to the world.Edward asked me, "Have you ever heard of Nathaniel Bowditch?" I said, "I know Bowditch, he was a navigator." "That's right!" Edward said, "Nathaniel Bowditch was born in 1733 and lived to be 65 years old. He began to teach himself Latin at the age of 10 and studied Newton's mathematical theory. At the age of 21, Bowditch He has become a mathematician. He went to sea to study the knowledge of navigation, and taught all the crew members to observe the moon to determine the position of the ship every day. He wrote a book on navigation, which became a classic. Among people, isn't it great?"

"Of course." I agreed.Because for Dr. Bowditch, he has no idea what is difficult.It did not occur to him that a university education was the first condition for becoming a scientist, but that he forged ahead with tenacity and acquired all the necessary knowledge.Nathaniel Bowditch navigated the seas as Edward Tehoe navigated the city streets, and the word "difficulty" was not in their lexicon. But the word "difficult" can certainly come in handy if one wants to avoid responsibility for failure.Some people may say that they have not gone to college and often encounter various difficulties; but even if they go to college, they may find many excuses for not having a place in the battlefield of life.Mature people only think of how to overcome difficulties, and never use difficulties as an excuse for their failure.

On one occasion, the famous inventor Dr. Alexander Graham Bell complained to his friend Joseph Henry, curator of the National Museum in Washington, D.C., that he was having difficulty in his work because he did not know electricity.But Henry didn't sympathize with Bell, nor did he comfort him, but said: "It's really a pity! Young man, it's a pity that you didn't spend time learning about electricity!" Guess what Henry will say to Bale next?He didn't say that Bell needed a scholarship, or that he needed help from his parents; instead, he just told Bell: "Go learn it!"

As a result, Alexander Graham Bell really went to learn it. He mastered this knowledge and developed the telephone, which can be regarded as one of the greatest contributions in the history of human communication.Yes, poverty is indeed an obstacle, but is there any reason for us to shirk our responsibilities and surrender because of poverty? Former US President Herbert Hoover was only the son of a blacksmith in Iowa, and his father died very young.Thomas J. Watson, president of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), was once a small clerk who earned only two dollars a week without a machine.

Adolf Zhuke, the film industry leader, was only a furrier's assistant at first, and he ran his first small amusement park at the beginning. These people never emphasize that they are hindered by poverty, they only think about how to overcome difficulties, and never waste time in self-pity. The famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson was weak and sickly since he was a child, but he did not despise life and work because of his illness.There are many positive things in his spirit—sunshine, strength, health and vitality of adults, and there is a kind of exuberant vitality in his works.Stevenson overcame the torment of illness and won a place in the literary world.There are still many great figures in the world who are worthy of admiration despite encountering difficulties:

The writer Byron was lame; the statesman Julius Caesar suffered from epilepsy; the composer Beethoven was deaf after birth; the military strategist Napoleon was short in stature; the musician Mozart suffered from asthma; the statesman Franklin D. Roosevelt suffered from polio; activist and author Helen Keller spent her life blind and deaf; singer Jenny Froman was badly injured in a plane crash, but struggled to recover and return to glory; actress Susan Ball, despite her amputation jeopardizing her happy marriage, found success in the film industry. These are people who are not willing to succumb to difficulties. They are mature people who can still be responsible for themselves despite being in the dark.They don't beg for a living, they don't despair, and they don't make excuses for themselves.

Roy L. Smith once wrote a biography of "A Full Life--Wandering at Death's Gate", which is very instructive.It tells the story of Elmo Holmes: Amo Holmes was born in Huntersville, Ohio, and a country doctor once concluded, "The child will not survive." But he was wrong, Amo Holmes endured the constant The pain of the torture, carrying his badly damaged right lung, tenaciously survived, and he died at the age of 90.Unable to do heavy work, he turned to reading. In 1891, at the age of 28, he became a Methodist minister.Although there were two recurrences of old illnesses, none of them could deprive him of the courage to continue living.The chocolatier John S. Huiler became interested in Elmo Holmes, offering him money to help with his illness.A few months later, the presumed mortal man recovered and left the nursing home.

Elmo Holmes came to the church again, raised funds through preaching, and funded various universities and hospitals. As a result, more than $3 million was raised.When he retired at the age of 69, he preached more than 1,000 times, wrote two books, raised $500,000 for religious and charitable organizations, served as a director of 20 institutions, and donated $50,000 himself. A church was built near the University of California. Elmo Holmes never thought of "difficulty".He just clings to life and the purpose of life, and has lived day and night for more than 90 years. It can be said that his name is synonymous with "courage".

In this country and era that overemphasizes "youth", many elderly people gradually feel the barriers of age, and they often have a feeling of being emptied or abandoned.For example, a few years ago, one of my trainees was a short, 74-year-old lady who didn't know how to spend the rest of her days. The old lady was a teacher before retiring, but she has no savings, and she needs to continue working to help her spiritually and financially.She said: "In addition to teaching, I can also tell stories to children, and I can also accompany the stories with carefully selected slides."

I think that's exactly what she should be doing, why doesn't she start her career again and tell her story? I told her my thoughts.The old lady was encouraged and excitedly devoted herself to her career again.She no longer sees age as a hindrance; on the contrary, she is even more capable than she was when she was young, and her story is all the more eloquently told by her experience. She personally approached the Ford Foundation, an organization that has done much to promote American culture, to promote her various "storytime" programs for kindergarteners.The people she approached all asked her to "prove it to me," so she talked them through with her plan.The warmth, the drama, the power of appeal in her story was the key to their acceptance of her whole project.

Today, the old lady is full of enthusiasm and confidence like a young man.Through storytelling, she brought joy to countless children.For her, age is no longer an excuse, she doesn't say, "I'm too old to make money." She reassesses her talents and experience and makes a detailed plan to use what she has , Down to earth to create her dream. At 74 years old, she is not getting older, but more mature.What most people think of as a hindrance, her age, is for her a motivator and an inducement. Bernard Shaw had great contempt for those who always complained about environmental obstacles. “Complaining about circumstances only made them what they are today,” he wrote. “I don’t believe in excuses like circumstances. The people who achieve in the world are those who actively seek out the environment that suits them. When it comes to this environment, they will create it themselves.” In fact, each of us can find all kinds of difficulties worth complaining about if we deliberately look for them.For example, when I was young, I found a reason for my troubles: I was taller than most of my classmates.But after a few years, I realized that it's ridiculous, that being tall can be a disadvantage or a strength, it all depends on how you look at it. Compared to our neighbor, if we have only one leg and he has two; if we are poorer or richer than him; if we are fat, thin, beautiful, ugly, blond, brunette, introverted or extroverted... …whenever we want to create barriers for ourselves, we need only find any difference between us and others, and we can get it. Immature managers are always willing to regard the differences between themselves and others as obstacles, and are eager for others to give special consideration to themselves.On the contrary, those mature managers can recognize their own characteristics different from others, or improve their own deficiencies in order to improve.Therefore, to be able to move towards more mature managers, they don't care about difficulties, maybe it is a kind of lucky start.