By Robert Clements
Of Eyes and Necks..!
Eyes and necks, you ask, what are you talking about Bob? Have you become a medical doctor today? Ah well, let me explain:
Some of the richest people in the world are those who saw opportunity while others had not noticed anything. The others had eyes but couldn’t see!
A woman took her 14-year-old daughter to an oldies concert which was music from the 60’s and 70’s and felt lucky to get front row seats. When they returned home, her daughter said, “During the show, I looked back and saw hundreds of little lights swaying to the music. At first, I thought the people were holding candles, then realized the lights were the reflections off all the eyeglasses in the audience. Mother, could you all really see what was on stage after wearing glasses?”
“Of course we could,” said the mother, “and we enjoyed it!”
“You all must be blind,” said the daughter, “It was so boring!”
And as we laugh at the little girl, wondering who was blind, the mother or daughter, I know incidences were we older folk also act blind: I went for a business meeting the other day to a fancy club and the old man, a businessman turned to me and said, “I don’t do business with internet people!”
“Internet people?” I asked, puzzled.
“Yes people who get orders online! I believe in going personally to an office, meeting the customer, shaking his hand, then getting down to business!”
“And by the time you do that the man who is Internet savvy would have cracked ten deals!” I thought to myself.
These are those who have eyes but can’t see.
There are numerous stories of people who lacked vision. A Hollywood producer scrawled a curt rejection note on a manuscript that became “Gone With The Wind.” He had no vision that the movie would break all records.
On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright finally succeeded in keeping their homemade airplane in the air for 59 seconds. They rushed a telegram to their sister telling of this great accomplishment. The telegram read, “First sustained flight today fifty-nine seconds. Hope to be home by Christmas.” Their sister was so excited she rushed to the newspaper office and gave the telegram to the editor. The next morning the newspaper headed the story: “Popular Local Bicycle Merchants To Be Home For Holidays.” The hapless editor saw the obvious but missed the real story.
Vision is never about seeing the obvious. It’s about looking ahead, about seeing what is not there – yet, about seeing the potential that is yet to come.
Like spotting the potential for success in a child who, as is obvious to everyone else, will likely fail. Or recognizing the potential for something good to come from a situation others are writing off as lost!
Have eyes that see.
And necks that stick out!
A family stood near a roller coaster ride. Each one had a different look. The teenage son looked at the cars coasting around with glee; he was just waiting, I could make out for his share of fun; the mother looked a little worried and the father was grinning till he saw his small daughter crying.
“What’s wrong?” he asked and I strained my ears to hear the conversation.
“I’m afraid dad!” she said, “I don’t want to get on the roller coaster!”
“Sissy!” cried the teenage brother.
“Don’t be a spoil sport!” said the worried mother.
The cars were slowing down as I saw the father take the little girl’s hand, “Go for it!” he said with an impish smile, “go for it, even if you’re scared! Then one day you’ll laugh and tell everyone how you were afraid but went for it!”
The little one gave a nervous grin, but stepped into her car. I heard her screams as the cars went twirling; but they were screams of joy!
A writer Dave Barry says this about his father: “My dad … he’d try anything — carpentry, electrical wiring, plumbing, roofing. From watching him, I learned a lesson that still applies to my life today: No matter how difficult a task may seem, if you’re not afraid to try it, you can do it. And when you’re done, it will leak.” (And then you’ll pay somebody even more to fix it than if you’d called him in the first place.)
But I learned from my parents the value of “going for it.” “Nothing ventured, nothing lost,” is the motto of too many of us. Many people are so afraid to fail that they never venture beyond the familiar. “Better to be safe than sorry” has trapped too many unhappy people in the cocoon of their comfort zones.
I remember a few years ago, during a water shortage having a well dug for the people in my colony. The water gushed out, but many in the colony said that the water was not fit for consumption. So, I, along with the secretary of the colony, drank the water as it gushed out, and soon people allowed the connections to their houses to be made, allowing water to be carried to their tanks.
This saved them from a water crisis that year, but if I had not stood near the pipe, drinking the water, nobody would have allowed the connection, despite the shortage.
Someone had to stick their neck out.
“Behold the turtle,” says James Conant. “He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out!”
So no, nothing about human anatomy here, to qualify me as a doctor, but it’s all about seeing farther than others and having the courage to stick your neck in any situation..!
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