Inspiring Examples & Experiences

Stumbling blocks are stepping-stones to success.

Ø      Wordsworth a world famous poet laureate did not write even a single line for fifty years.

Ø      Beethoven wrote his immortal symphonies when he was deaf.

Ø      Milton wrote 'Paradise Lost' when he was blind.

Ø      Alexander Pope was so crippled that he hardly could move; yet, he became one of the giants of English literature.

Ø      Julius Caesar was epileptic, yet he conquered the then-known world. When he felt an epileptic seizure coming on, he gave instructions for carrying on the battle while he was unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he calmly resumed command as though nothing had happened.

Ø      Franklin D. Roosevelt, crippled by infantile paralysis, became president.

Ø      In a prison cell, John Bunyan wrote 'Pilgrim's Progress', a book that is one of the epics of English literature.

Ø      Robert Louis Stephenson was never, ever for one hour, free from pain and hacking cough. He suffered from fever and tuberculosis. Yet, he wrote 'Treasure Islana' and many exciting, or humorous stories.

Ø      Musk deer not knowing the musk present in its own navel keeps on wandering in the jungle in search of the fragrance.

Ø      It has been said that an ostrich which sticks its head in the sand, makes and irresistible target for a paddle. It thinks that is safe from its enemies if it hides its head into the sand.

Ø      Bhupi Serchan had written only a few poems yet he could become so much famous in the field of literature.

Ø      Louis Pasteur was 46 years old when he had a paralytic stroke. His usefulness seemed at an end. Instead for 27 years after this misfortune Pasteur moved steadily forward in perfecting means to reduce suffering all over the world. During this period, he perfected the theories that led to the control of tuberculosis.

Ø      Robert Schumann's middle finger became paralysed. His future as a pianist almost came to an end. However, people were thrilled by the beautiful melodies which he produced inspite of this tragedy.

Ø      Milton with good eyesight wrote prose in Latin language and in English which is not remembered very well. Later on, he became blind and produced the finest epic in the English language, "Paradise Lost".

Ø      Sir Walter Scott, great author, was lame from childhood. Ludwig Van Beethoven, German composer, was deaf. Robert Louis Stevenson, famous Scottish author, was ill all his life. Dr. Samuel Johnson, English writer, known for ' Dictionary of The English Language' suffered form a disease with glandular swellings. Franz Schubert, Austrian composer, who wrote mastery piano pieces, was afflicted with severe chronic headaches.

Ø      A silkworm weaves its cocoon and stays inside. Therefore, it is imprisoned. The spider weaves its web and stays outside. Therefore it is free.

Ø      Archimedes was wrapped up in his own thoughts when he was slain.

Ø      Alexander Graham Bell's wife and mother were both deaf.

Ø      Charlie Brown's dad was a barber.

Ø      A dentist invented the Electric Chair.

Ø      But take the case of Beethoven, who composed the “ Ninth’s Symphony”, one of the greatest musical compositions ever, after he had gone deaf. Or Milton’s poetic genius that was heightened by his blindness, and Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest theoretical physicists of our time who has permanently wheelchair bound because of ALS—a motor neuron disease. These people were able to overcome their physical limitations and scale heights of excellence because they believed in ‘I can”.

Ø      Abraham Lincoln was a failure at everything he tried until he was well past the age of 40. He was a Mr Nobody from Nowhere until a great experience came into his life, aroused the sleeping genius within his heart and brain, and gave the world one of its really great men.

Ø      Thomas A. Edison had only three months of ‘schooling’ during his entire life. He did not lack education, neither did he die poor.

Ø      Henry Ford had limited ‘schooling’ but he managed to do pretty well by himself financially. The fact that Ford and Edison did not have much formal schooling does not give today’s young people an excuse to drop out of school. Today a minimum standard of formal education is necessary to get a good start in the world of business.

Ø      Dave Thomas, who founded the Wendy Restaurant chain, was a dropout. But after he achieved success, he encouraged youngsters to continue their schooling. He backed this up by choosing to be an example to dropouts by working to get his own high school diploma 45 years after he left school.

Ø      Kamal Mani Dixit hasn’t passed M.A. but his book named ‘Buingal’ is taught in M.A. (Nepali).

Ø      Socrates was reportedly unattractive in appearance and short of stature but was also extremely hardy and self-controlled. He enjoyed life immensely and achieved social popularity because of his ready wit and a keen sense of humor that was completely devoid of satire or cynicism.


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Do You Need a College Degree In Order to be Successful?

Source:  www.associatedcontent.com

 

By Sindy Lucas
Published Jan 06, 2007
Click to contact me

I have a confession. I don't have a college degree and I've never wanted one. I don't subscribe to the theory that having a post secondary degree will make you more successful than someone who doesn't have a degree, but what do I know (remember, I don't have a degree).

It is my assumption that people obtain degrees to get better jobs. Better jobs lead to more money and in America the more money you have the more successful you are.

So the facts (so they say), according to the U.S. Department of Education, National Centre for Education Statistics, "Between 1980 and 2004, earnings increased with education for all young adults ages 25-34 who worked full-time throughout the year. Young adults with at least a bachelor's degree consistently had higher median earnings than those with less education. Moreover, for the entire population and, in general, for each subgroup, the difference between the earnings of those with at least a bachelor's degree and their peers with less education grew during this period. For example, in 1980, males with a bachelor's or higher degree earned 19 percent more than male high school completers, while in 2004 they earned 67 percent more."

So there you have it, those with college degrees go on to make mucho dinero, but nowhere in this survey did they mention the thousands of college graduates who don't find success in their chosen profession, regardless of having a degree. They didn't mention the college graduates who find themselves in massive, paralyzing debt due to all the student loans they've taken out over the course of 4 to 8 years. Nor do they mention the people who didn't go to college that were successful in their chosen field despite not having a degree.

Earlier today I spoke to a professional, an aspiring filmmaker. He is successful in every since of the word. He has a good job, a beautiful home, he is living the American dream, so I asked him, "Do you think that having a degree has made a positive impact in your life or do you feel that you could have gone just as far without it?" To my surprise his response was, "To tell you the truth I never finished high school. I've been very lucky in life with my job and success. For me it was all about my personality and making sure I surrounded myself with talented people."

What he said made perfect sense to me and it got me thinking. Do you really need a degree to be successful?

In my opinion there are many roads that lead to success and not all of those roads require you to have a degree, but before you start sending me hate mail accusing me of knocking college, just know that I'm not against higher education. I believe in education. In some instances you need a degree. I don't think that you should get to be a doctor just because you like to cut, and I don't think you should get to be a lawyer just because you speak well, know something about the law and want to get your cousin out of jail, but I also don't believe that whether or not you have a four year degree should be the only factor in determining whether you get a good job. Intelligence as well as experience should also be determining factors. I also believe that certifications are a valid way of determining if one is qualified for particular positions.

For a lot of people having a degree is important and although I feel that I've done well without a degree, I also feel that some doors are still shut to me because I don't have a degree and it's not because I don't know how to do the job, it's because in America we're taught that a post secondary education is where it's at.

We're condition to believe that to truly be successful you have to have that piece of paper to validate your intelligence and your worth and that's what degrees do, they validate your intelligence.

I know a lot of people who are successful, people that have never attended college. I'm sure if you think about it, you know someone too and if you don't, just think about the most famous college dropout of all, Bill Gates. According to his bio, he left Harvard in his junior year to devote time to Microsoft and while he's not going around doing seminars which promote dropping out of college, I'm sure he's not crying in his pillow at night screaming, "Oh GOD, if only I had that college degree I would be worth a gazillion dollars instead of the lousy billions I'm worth now."

So in conclusion, if you feel you need a degree then go get it, by all means, get that degree and I wish you all the success in the world, but don't knock people that don't have a degree and don't assume that they're less qualified or less intelligent because they don't have one.

You'd be surprised.

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