Thursday, July 15, 2010

Inspirational Stories by Natasha Althoff-Kelley


A Doctor by the name of Judah Folkman kept in his archives an
article printed in the New York Times written by two physics
professors explaining how it would never be possible for airplanes
to fly. Three months later the Wright brothers soared through the
air at Kitty Hawk.

Folkman had proposed in 1970 an idea that conflicted with what
scientists at the time knew. He proposed that tumors generated new
blood vessels to feed themselves and grow. He was ridiculed, and
met with hostility and told that his study was futile science. At a
research convention, when he showed his ideas half the audience
walked out. For two decades he kept going, despite everyone else's
opinions and reactions.

My question is: Would you have kept going?

Today he has helped over 100,000 cancer patients from his research
and he is considered to be a leader in the fight to cure cancer.

Michael Jordon was cut from the varsity basketball team in his
first year at high school.

My question is: Would you have kept going?

Michael did double the practice of every other player on the team
and went on to become the best basketball player of all time.

Colonel Sanders, the father of legendary fast food chain KFC was
broke, with only a small house and an old car to his name. He was
65 years old. He decided to sell his chicken recipe to restaurants
for free in return for a small percentage on the chicken sold. He
was rejected over 1000 times.

My question is: Would you have kept going?

He got 1009 rejections to his proposal before he got his first
'yes'.
With that one success Colonel Hartland Sanders changed the
eating habits of the whole world with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).

Bruce Lee studied and mastered kung fu but all he really wanted was
to be an actor. He obtained some small roles in TV and film but
thought his big break had arrived when he heard there was to be a
new TV series called "Kung Fu" and they were looking for a new
star. He had a successful screen test but in the end the role was
given to David Carradine.

My question is: Would you have kept going?

He was offered and starred in many film roles after that and his
reputation as an actor and his skills in the martial arts made him
a household name.

Fred Smith was a student at Yale studying economics. He wrote a
paper disagreeing with his professor about air-freight through
passenger planes, and instead proposed having separate planes
dedicated to mail and not people. The professor gave him a low
grade.

Fred was not discouraged and went out to tell others of his idea
and to get investors. He was met with disinterest. However his
passion and his courage to his convictions served him well and he
raised $91 million on his untested idea.

FEDEX was born and in the first few years the losses amounted to
millions of dollars. The investors wanted to remove Fred and get
someone else to take over the company.

My question is: Would you have kept going?

Fred did not lose faith, he worked night and day to solve the
operational problems and that resulted in $75 million revenue with
$3.6 million profits. Today FEDEX is a multi-million dollar company.

W. Mitchell was a good looking 28 year old on top of the world! He
had finally saved enough money for his dream motorbike and life was
good. A traffic accident left him with a crushed elbow and pelvis
and burns to 75% of his body. His face was burned beyond
recognition and his fingers and thumbs had been burnt off leaving
him with two stumps where his hands used to be.

My question is: Would you have kept going?

After 6 months of rehabilitation he came across an idea for a stove
company. He thought to himself 'hmmm I know a bit about fire' so he
co-founded Vermont casting Inc which became Vermont's second
largest employer. With the profits he was making he bought himself
a personal aeroplane and despite the physical barrier of having no
hands, he learned to fly.

Mitchell thought he was on top of the world again. Life was good
and he had achieved so much.

However on a routine flight to San Francisco - a flight Mitchell
had made many times before - the plane malfunctioned and crashed.
There were four others in the plane and they all walked out.
Everyone except for Mitchell. He had crushed his twelfth thoracic
vertebrae and he would never be able to use his legs again. He
needed a wheelchair.

My question is: Would you have kept going?

He says about the accidents: 'Before my accidents, there were ten
thousands things I could do. I could spend the rest of my life
dwelling on the one thousands that I had lost, but I instead chose
to focus on the nine thousands I still had left'.

Mitchell is still a director of the board to a number of companies,
and is a successful businessman. He is also a co-founding chairman
of a $65 million company.

What is the point of these stories I am telling you?... well you
tell me... Whatever you take out of these stories is the message
you are ready to hear right now. To me the theme of this article is
persistence. I go. Until. No buts, maybes, excuses, could of, would
of, should of. Just I do. Until. I trust whatever you needed and
wanted to understand and assign meaning to, you did in the most
perfect way for you!