Success, patience, sharing an apple

In the late 1950s, he was pumping as at his father’s service station, fixing up cars to race and struggling to save up enough money to buy more cars. He was determined to become a winning racecar driver, but none of his early cars ever produced a checkered flag. His cars were hot out of the gate but couldn’t finish. Engines blew, carburetors failed, gearboxes stripped. His cars were fast starters but couldn’t hold up through the finish line.

Then he heard that winning was more than quick starts or periodic bursts of energy. From the point of preparation to the thrill of victory, winners must be content to win throughout the race. His daily pursuit of success resulted in his winning multiple accolades in the racing industry, including a two-time victory at the Indianapolis 500. Bobby Unser went from meager means to achieving considerable wealth owning a ranch, an airplane and racing cars.

In another story, the wife of actor, James Cagney, commented often on her husband’s memory. Shortly after Cagney received an Academy Award for “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” he and his wife were getting into a car in New York City when he spotted a man across the street. Cagney pointed him out and said, “His name is Nathan Skidelsky. He sat next to me in grade school.”

Mrs. Cagney couldn’t believe that her husband could identify someone he had not seen for decades, so she challenged him to prove that his claim was true. Cagney accepted the challenge, crossed the street and talked with the man. “It was Nathan Skidelsky,” Mrs. Cagney confirmed after her husband finished the conversation with his former classmate. “The only problem was that Nathan didn’t remember who James was.”

The virtue of patience is very important in a short story told by Robert Schuller. “I remember one winter my dad needed firewood, so he found a dead tree and sawed it down. In the spring, new shoots sprouted around the trunk,” Schuller said. “I thought it was dead,” his father said. “The leaves had all dropped in the winter. It was so cold that twigs snapped as if there was no life left in the old tree. But now I see that there was still life at the root.”

Schuller’s father then looked at his son and said, “Bob, never forget this important lesson. Never cut a tree down in the winter. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst mood. Wait and be patient for the storm will pass and spring will come.”

A story is told about a college running back that everyone agreed had the ability to be one of the best in the league. He was drafted early by the pros, but sadly, he never performed up to his ability, so his coach finally released him in favor of a player who had much less ability. Asked how he could do such a thing, the coach said the decision had been relatively simple. “That man has all the ability in the world, but the one I kept has all the touchdowns.”

In a final story, two small boys were walking slowly deep in conversation when they stopped to share an apple. “You cut and I will choose,” one lad said to the other. Therefore a small knife appeared, the cut was made and the choice was decided.

What a splendid way to ensure that an apple is equally divided and shared. Perhaps our world could get along with fewer conferences and agreements if only the powers that be had the simple solution that the small boys worked out together as they walked, talked and learned to share.

Dale Carnegie once said that you can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so, because fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.

Final thought for the week. It may not be your fault for being down, but it has got to be your fault for not getting up.

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