Think and Grow Rich

Chapter 6 Desire: The Beginning of Everything (2)
"In the first place, the greatest achievement was but a dream for a certain period of time."

"Every oak tree is grown from seeds, birds are hatched from eggs, and awakened angels are also born from the highest point of human souls. And dreams are the basis for the realization of reality."

All dreamers in the world, wake up, determine what you want, what you want to be, and create this strong desire!You are like the rising sun, and the economic downturn around the world may be offering you plenty of opportunities.It teaches patience, humor and an open mind.

There are countless opportunities in the world, unknown to dreamers of the past.A strong desire to "what kind of person do you want to be" and "what kind of thing do you want to do" is the basis for dreamers to take off.Dreams do not come from indifference, idleness, and lack of progress.

People stopped laughing at dreamers or calling them unrealistic.If you think the same way, then go to Tennessee and witness for yourself how an American president with a dream uses productivity and uses American hydropower to generate electricity.A few decades ago, such a dream would have seemed foolish.

You may be more disappointed, you have also tasted failure during the distribution depression, you have felt that great heart slowly shattered, and finally bleeding profusely.Take courage now, these experiences have been forged into your ethos—they are invaluable.

Remember, those who are successful in life didn't start out well, and it took countless hard struggles to get where they are today.The turning point in the lives of those who are successful usually comes at a critical moment, in which they discover their "alternate selves."

John Bunyan was imprisoned because of his different views on religion. After being tortured in prison, he wrote the masterpiece "The Pilgrim's Progress" in the history of English literature.After the great misfortune of being imprisoned in Columbus, Ohio, O. Henry discovered the wisdom that had been in his head for many years.Out of compulsion, he discovers his "other self" in misfortune, and with the help of rich imagination, he finally finds that he can become a great writer instead of the poor criminal and vagabond.Human beings have different lifestyles. Unfamiliar forms and methods are often channels to discover "infinite wisdom". Useful new ideas.

Edison, the greatest inventor in the world, was once a part-time telegraph operator, and he also experienced countless failures before finally discovering the long-sleeping talent in his brain.

Charles Dickens's first job was putting labels on black shoe polish jars.The experience of a failed first love stabbed his soul and transformed him into one of the world's greatest writers.This failed love made his masterpiece "David Copperfield", and later brought a series of other works to readers who loved him, enriching and perfecting people's spiritual world.The experience of falling out of love often leads to alcoholism for men and depression for women; all because people don't understand the transformative art of turning passionate emotions into novel dreams.

Helen Keller became a disabled person shortly after she was born, deaf, blind, and dumb.Despite all her misfortunes, she has etched her name forever in the great book of great history.Her life tells us that the only thing that can break a person is the mentality of accepting the reality of failure. Apart from that, nothing can break a human being.The Scottish poet Robert Burns was an illiterate country boy who suffered from poverty and grew up a drunkard.However, because of his existence, the world has become more beautiful, because he has clothed thoughts with gorgeous verses, thereby weeding out the thorns in life and planting fragrant roses.

Booker T. Washington came from humble beginnings and suffered discrimination because of his race and color.Because of his tenacity and open-mindedness, because he is cheerful and uninhibited, and because he is still a dreamer, he has become a figure that the whole nation looks up to.

Beethoven was deaf, Milton was blind, but their names live on because they dreamed and turned their dreams into coherent thoughts.

Before starting the next chapter, please ignite the fire of hope, faith, courage, and patience in your heart.If you have this state of mind and know enough about how to apply the above principles, then when you are ready for what you want, everything will work out for you!Emerson once said something like this: "Every aphorism, every good book, and every proverb that helps you and applies to you has passed through an open or tortuous process before it can be accepted by you. Although it is not fantasy, but in The friend buried deep in your soul will definitely hold you in his arms."

There is a fundamental difference between wishing for something and being ready to receive it.No one is ready for something unless they believe they can have it.This state of mind is belief, not just hope and aspiration.Only broad-mindedness can make people believe, and self-closing will never inspire people's confidence, courage and belief.

Remember, setting big goals in life and pursuing abundance in life is no more difficult than accepting poverty and unhappiness.A great poet once left immortal truth in his works:
I begged for a copper coin from life, but it gave it very reluctantly. No matter how much I begged in the dark night, I could only say nothing to the meager income.Life is like an employer that gives you all you want, but once you get paid, you have to put the burden on your shoulders.

My pursuit is not high, but I am surprised to understand that life will generously return all my requests.

desire conquers all

As the last part of this chapter, I would like to introduce here one of the most unusual people I have ever known. He was only a few minutes old when I first met him 24 years ago.He was born without ears, we immediately asked the doctor, and the doctor admitted that the child may be deaf and dumb for life.

I questioned the doctor's point of view, and absolutely have the right to refute, because I am the father of that child.I made a decision, came to an opinion, and I didn't tell anyone, I just kept it to myself.I think my son must be able to hear and speak like a normal person.Although we are destined to have a son born without ears, we cannot just silently accept this painful reality.

In my heart, I know that my son will eventually hear and speak.How can this wish come true?I'm sure I can find a way, I know I can find a way.I always think of Emerson's immortal words: "The course of events will tell us the truth. We only need to follow it. It will guide everyone. If we listen carefully, we will surely get the truth." What is the truth?It is desire!Beyond that, I had a strong desire not to make my son deaf.I have never been half-hearted about this desire, not even for a second.Many years ago, I wrote this sentence: "Our only limitations are the boundaries we set in our heads." For the first time in my life, I doubted whether this statement was true.On the bed in front of me lay a newborn baby born without ears.Even though he could hear and talk, his unique physical appearance would never change for the rest of his life.Needless to say, this is a limitation that a child has never imagined.What should I do?I will try my best to instill in my son's brain the strong desire to find ways and means to change the status quo under the reality that his son has no ears.

As soon as the child reached a sensible age, I tried my best to instill in him a strong desire to listen, hoping that God would turn this desire into a real reality in a unique way.All these thoughts lingered in my head, and I never said them to anyone.Every day, I revisit the promise I made in my heart, and I must not let my son become a deaf-mute.

When he got older and started to notice what was going on around him, we discovered that he had very weak hearing.When he got to the point where other children of his age were learning to speak, he showed no signs of wanting to speak, but we could tell by his behavior that he could hear faintly.This is exactly what I expected to know.I believe that if he can hear even a little bit, it shows that he has the potential to develop a better sense of hearing.An incident that followed gave me great hope, and it was a complete surprise!

We bought a gramophone, and the son was so delighted when he first heard music that he immediately took it for himself.It wasn't long before he showed favor with certain records, one of which was "Tipperary, Long Way to Go".For a while, he would play the record over and over, standing in front of the phonograph for two hours, his tiny teeth gripping the edge of the machine.We didn't understand what he meant by his spontaneous habit until many years later, because we had never heard of the "bone conduction of sound" theory.

Shortly after he took possession of the phonograph, I discovered that he could hear me clearly when I spoke with my lips touching the mastoid bone behind his ear, or the base below his brain.These discoveries prompted me at once to begin, by means of the necessary medium, to infuse into my son's brain my strong desire to learn to listen and listen.At that time, he was struggling to say certain words.Though the outlook was far from rosy, a desire backed by conviction told me—he could say anything.

Once I knew for sure that my child could hear clearly, I immediately began to instill in him the desire to hear and speak.Soon, I found that children especially like to lie in bed and listen to stories before going to bed.So, I began to carefully fabricate some stories, hoping to cultivate his self-reliance, imagination, desire to "be able to listen" and the idea of ​​"being a normal person".

Every time I tell a certain story, I deliberately add some fresh and dramatic colors.I crafted this story to plant a thought in his mind that misfortune is not a liability but a priceless asset.While all the philosophies I've examined make it clear that "every adversity hides the same advantages," I must also admit that I had no idea how to turn that adversity into a fortune.Still, I subtly instill this philosophy in my son's bedtime stories, in the hope that one day I will find a way to make his natural handicap play a role.

Reason clearly tells me that the ear and the natural organ of hearing cannot be adequately compensated.However, the desire supported by faith allowed me to overcome all difficulties and muster the courage to move on.

Looking back on those experiences now, I can see that my son's confidence in me had a lot to do with those amazing endings.I never questioned everything I told him.I convinced him that I had a distinct advantage over my older brother, and that this advantage would manifest itself in many ways.For example, the teachers at school will find that he has no ears, so they will take special care of him and be more kind in their attitude.Indeed, this is how teachers in schools treat children.His mother witnessed this situation first-hand when she visited the teachers at the school to discuss with them how to take special care of the child.I also instilled in him the idea that when he was old enough to sell newspapers (his older brother was now a newspaper merchant), he would have another advantage over his older brother.Because people would pay him more if they saw such an earless young man working hard.

Gradually, we noticed that our son's listening ability was improving step by step.Besides, he showed no sign of being self-conscious about his own inadequacy.When he was about seven years old, the first evidence that our educational methods were working.For months, he had been begging his mother to allow him to sell newspapers, but his mother refused.She worried that it would not be safe for the child, who was born with a handicap, to go out alone.

Eventually, the son slipped out on his own.One afternoon, when he was left alone with his nanny, he climbed out of the kitchen window, jumped to the ground and ran out alone.He borrowed 6 cents from a nearby shoe store and started to invest in the newspaper business. After selling it, he bought new ones, sold it again, and invested again, and so on many times until it was dark.At last the accounts were settled, and after repaying the six cents he had borrowed from the creditors, he had a net profit of forty-two cents.We came home that night to find him asleep in his bedroom clutching the money he had earned.

Mom broke his little hand, took out the change, and cried.All the flavors of life came to her heart quietly, and she cried for her son's first victory.My reaction was the exact opposite of hers.I smiled happily because I knew that the seeds of self-confidence I had planted in my son had begun to take root.

(End of this chapter)