by Kerry Thomas
April 30, 2009
I want to remind you that you are an American! You live in the freest country on earth. Those freedoms go hand in hand with some responsibilities, too.
Your freedom has been paid for with the blood of those who’ve gone before you. Their hopes and dreams drove them to ensure a better life for not only themselves, but for you, too.
You are guaranteed an equal opportunity to go as far as your
own dreams and talents will take you in life.
Outcomes are not assured; opportunity is. The only limits in your life will be those you place on yourself.
Dream big, and never stop chasing those big dreams.
It took Benjamin Franklin 2000 tries to invent the light
bulb. He tried 1999 times before he got
it right. But he didn’t see those 1999
attempts as failures. He looked at them
as 1999 learning experiences that enabled him to get it right the next time.
Bill Gates founded Microsoft in his parents’ garage. He dropped out of college to pursue his
vision of putting a computer in every home in America. Matt Drudge was working in a gift shop at
CBS when he created the Drudge Report.
Joe Francis was just a geek with a camcorder when he discovered guys
would actually pay him to videotape girls in bikinis. Dan Whitney worked as a disc jockey at a radio station to create
his more infamous persona, Larry the Cable Guy. Joanne Rowling spent years writing the Harry Potter stories
longhand on yellow legal tablets before she dared share them with anyone
outside her family.
Opportunities abound.
The human mind is the most creative force on earth. Like any computer, it will churn out only as
good as the information fed into it.
Garbage in, garbage out.
If you ask yourself why you can’t do something, your
mind will come up with a hundred and one reasons why you can’t do it. But if you ask yourself how you CAN
do something, you’ll come up with a hundred and one ways to get the job
done. They may not all work perfectly
the first time, but they will get you closer to accomplishing the task at
hand. “How can I …”
Think of it this way.
If you woke up this morning and there wasn’t six feet of dirt in your
face, it’s going to be a good day.
Think about what you’re passionate about, then find a way to
make that passion your profession.
You’ll never have to work another day in your life. It won’t be work; it’ll be your passion.
Engage your brain and pursue your dreams. That’s the American way.