Perspective

I was picking up my dry cleaning this evening when the owner began to ask me how things were going. I told her that so far, thankfully, things were going well, but that I've seen better days. I jokingly commented that the FDIC at the bank wasn't enough to secure my hard earned savings. She began to tell me that her industry was in great turmoil, that small dry cleaners were closing shop and that business was decreasing. The cost of supplies and now natural gas have all sky rocketed putting added pressure on her business. In addition, she said that they have had trouble sustaining customers. Just then a realtor walked in and he started to share with us his frustrations with sales and finding clients and how buyers were becoming more demanding now that they had the bargaining power. I told both of them that the economy is affecting everyone, whether they are salaried professionals or business owners.

On a brighter note, I told them that if they compared themselves to the rest of the world and if the world were a tiny village; almost everyone would go to bed hungry, many would be illiterate and live in shanty towns with no running water or central sewage and only a small number would have half the income that you do and if you happen to make more than $30,000/year, you would be in the top 1 percent in the entire world! You are already financially rich beyond measure in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Lunch on a Skyscraper

This photograph was taken in New York City on September 29, 1932 and published in the New York Herald Tribune on October 2 of the same year. It was taken by Charles Ebbets on the 69th floor of the GE Building in the Rockefeller Center. The image was founded by Otto Bettmann in 1936 and belongs to the Corbis company, now owned by Bill Gates (http//pro.corbis.com). The aerial view of Manhattan in the 1930's overlooking Central Park and the skyscrapers with the men sitting on a girder having lunch portrays to me the spirit and the greatness that built America.

Perseverance Pays

I've often wondered what seperates certain people who come from the most difficult circumstances in life like being raised in an abusive or broken home, living with illness or not having a college education to find it within themselves to reach great success and happiness versus those who have everything they ever wanted; the college education, finances and loving parents, yet most often times become unfulfilled in their lives.

As I read the story of Colonel Sanders from the book "Notes From A Friend" by Tony Robbins, it revealed that much of what seperates us has to do with persistence. Colonel Sanders didn't begin to fulfill his dream until he was 65 years old. He was broke and recieved his first Social Security check of $105 and got angry. He asked the question, "what could I do that would give value to others?". He had this great chicken recipe that everyone seemed to love and thought that if he sold his recipe and taught people how to make it, he could increase their business and make some money. So off he went knocking on every restaurant. How many times do you think he was rejected before he reached success? He was refused 1,009 times before he heard his first yes. He spent two years driving across America in his old, beat up car, sleeping in the back seat wearing that white suit.

If you look at most successful people in history, they would not be denied. They would not allow anything to stop them from making their vision, their goal a reality. U.S. News and World Report published an article titled, "Seven Secrets of the Super Rich". Here they are: 1) Perseverence Beats Education, 2) Make Your Own Luck, 3) Gamble, But Wisely, 4) Know Your Market Intimately, 5) Focus Obessively and Work, Work, Work, 6) Timing Is Everything and 7) It's Not Just About The Money - "Studies show that the desire for financial success is not the main driver among entrepreneurs, but what matters more is the innovation, the intense commitment they have to an idea and the difference it can make. Money is the byproduct."

I hope this helps people to abandon any sense that there is no solution and to see that no problem is ever permanent.

Mother's Love

I was immensely humbled by the experience I had with this young woman in her early thirties in the hospital who was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. This means that the cancer at this point can be any size and may or may not have spread to nearby lymph nodes. I was helping her arrange some appointments with radiology when she began to sob hysterically. As I handed her a tissue to wipe her tears, she shared with me her situation. She said that her husband had left her when he found out she had cancer and also that she was a few weeks preganant. I could not believe it; how this coward could abandon his wife and future child in this great time of need. I was shocked with what she would tell me next. She explained to me that the doctor told her that her options were surgery and chemotherapy if she wanted to live, but that there could be a potential risk to her unborn baby with receiving the chemo treatment.

Innocently, I reiterated to her, "Are you saying that to survive this cancer and choose chemotherapy, the risk could mean the life of your unborn child? And conversely should you decide not to receive the treatment, then it could mean the risk of your own life, which would leave your baby orphaned."

My instinct was to reassure her that everything was going to be alright and that no matter what happens, God would take care of her and her baby.

From what I could gather, the young mother ultimately decided to receive the chemotherapy treatment during her first trimester of preganacy, which I hear can be safe for the fetus. To this day, I don't know where that woman is or how she is doing, but I know from co-workers who were assisting with her care and treatment that she and her baby survived.

This young woman risked her own life to save another - the ultimate act of love. This made me open my heart to loving more and more every day.