Recently I sat down with the author of this blog and asked some hard questions.
What qualifies you to write this blog?
I am someone who learns from my mistakes and therefore can offer expert advice on how to stumble through life and try to get it right in the process. I try to share some of the hope, encouragement, and wisdom I have learned as I've experienced life's ups and downs.
Have you ever tried to get a book published?
Yes and I failed miserably. However, I did learn a valuable lesson. In 2007 when I sent out queries, I received over thirty rejection notices before I gave up counting. Sometime after that I just started to write for myself, while occasionally allowing friends and family to see my ponderings. My writing did need work and I have learned much from failure. I agree with Samuel Beckett when he said, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Have you ever had anything published on any level?
Yes. I have been published three times in the Upper Room devotional, briefly wrote for a local newspaper and contributed to the book SIMPLE LITTLE WORDS. My family's story was included in David Jeremiah’s book, BEND IN THE ROAD.
What do you love/hate most about writing?
Editing. It is a necessary evil that I have grown to appreciate over time. My wife edits my blogs and does an excellent job of cleaning up my writing and making it easier for you to understand. For me, it is easier just to write what I am thinking, but I now realize writing is about connecting with others and not just doing what feels good.
Can you offer any advice on how to figure life out?
No, I’m done attempting to chase the wind. Nevertheless, I do attempt to offer honest advice that I’ve learned from some of the darkest days a man can face. Hopefully my pain can be your gain.
What was the first car you bought?
A light blue 1975 Dodge Dart. Ugly as sin, fairly dependable, lasted forever. It helped me discover my wife was the one for me, because she definitely was not dating me for my car. The only people who liked it were the neighbor boys who were about five at the time.
What is your favorite role in life?
That’s easy, husband and father. Although you will have to ask my family how I am doing, I so enjoy having a daily opportunity to be close to the people I love. It is the most important job I will ever have and is something I don’t take for granted.
On a personal note have you ever done anything society would consider crazy?
OK, here it is, I am going to lay it all out. God is asking my wife and me to do something crazy. God is asking us to adopt again and I am all in. I believe if God calls you to do something outside your comfort zone He will provide the resources, it is just our job to follow. At this point, we are just being obedient and where it ends up is yet to be seen. When it comes to adoption, I believe, if you have love you better give it. There’s no need to save it, you won’t run out.
Have you ever not given your all?
Yes. I’m not proud of it, but I have been guilty in the past. To be entirely honest, I thought I would have quit this blog by now, because when things get tough sometimes I give up. Now, I seek to work through the hard and not be controlled by what I feel.
Define yourself in two words?
Inconsistent persistence.
Do you have anything more to add?
No, I’m done.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Showing posts with label persistence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persistence. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Recipe for Success
Who doesn’t know the iconic look of Colonel Harland Sanders on every bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken? But did you know he wasn’t famous until he well over sixty years of age. The Colonel is a great example of persistence, someone we can all relate to and learn from.
Born in 1890, Colonel Sanders had much to overcome in his life. His father passed away when he was five, so while his mother worked he was required to cook for the family. He dropped out of school in the seventh grade and later left his family because of abuse by his stepfather. He held various jobs before he was forty including: steamboat pilot, railroad fireman, insurance salesman, farmer, and practiced law. During this time he married and had three children, one of whom passed away at a young age.
During the 1930’s in his early forties, Sanders began selling chicken dinners and other meals out of a service station in Kentucky. He was quite successful and during this time he developed his original, secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices. However, by the early 1950’s, a new interstate diverted the traffic from his business subsequently forcing him to sell.
Now in his mid sixties, Sanders took to the road dressed as a Kentucky gentleman in his famous white suit with black western tie and who could forget his white goatee. In his quest to sell his chicken and start franchises, he wound up making over one thousand visits often facing ridicule and rejection. By 1964, despite the naysayers, the Colonel had established over six hundred franchised stores where you could purchase his chicken in the United States and Canada.
Colonel Sanders was also well known for his generosity to charities and orphans. He once said, “There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there.” By the time he passed away in 1980 he had become one of the world’s most recognizable faces.
May Colonel Sanders be an inspiration to us all, to never give up despite the odds. It is never too late to aspire to something more; a better craftsman, a better father, a better husband, a better writer, or simply a better person. You never know where your persistance may lead. Perhaps our goal should be, being greatly esteemed by the lives we touch and whatever else happens, well, happens.
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” ~ Booker T. Washington
Swavel
Born in 1890, Colonel Sanders had much to overcome in his life. His father passed away when he was five, so while his mother worked he was required to cook for the family. He dropped out of school in the seventh grade and later left his family because of abuse by his stepfather. He held various jobs before he was forty including: steamboat pilot, railroad fireman, insurance salesman, farmer, and practiced law. During this time he married and had three children, one of whom passed away at a young age.
During the 1930’s in his early forties, Sanders began selling chicken dinners and other meals out of a service station in Kentucky. He was quite successful and during this time he developed his original, secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices. However, by the early 1950’s, a new interstate diverted the traffic from his business subsequently forcing him to sell.
Now in his mid sixties, Sanders took to the road dressed as a Kentucky gentleman in his famous white suit with black western tie and who could forget his white goatee. In his quest to sell his chicken and start franchises, he wound up making over one thousand visits often facing ridicule and rejection. By 1964, despite the naysayers, the Colonel had established over six hundred franchised stores where you could purchase his chicken in the United States and Canada.
Colonel Sanders was also well known for his generosity to charities and orphans. He once said, “There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there.” By the time he passed away in 1980 he had become one of the world’s most recognizable faces.
May Colonel Sanders be an inspiration to us all, to never give up despite the odds. It is never too late to aspire to something more; a better craftsman, a better father, a better husband, a better writer, or simply a better person. You never know where your persistance may lead. Perhaps our goal should be, being greatly esteemed by the lives we touch and whatever else happens, well, happens.
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” ~ Booker T. Washington
Swavel
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