Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Sawing Sawdust

You'll learn that one of my most oft-read authors is Dale Carnegie, writer of How to Win Friends and Influence People, and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. I read the former book for the first time as a teenager, and it's become a reference book for me at various times over the years. The latter was a purchase after I married (though the two events are not related!)

Today my eye caught How to Stop Worrying during an idle moment, and it rekindled some lessons that I easily forget, yet benefit from greatly if I take the time to reinforce them.

So here we go...

Is it foolish to try to go back in time as if we could change it? Of course. Yet how much time do people spend replaying the negative splices of life with the volume turned up as loud as it can go?

George Washington Carver lost $40,000 in a bank crash. When someone asked if he knew he was bankrupt, he simply said "Yes, I heard" -- and went on with his teaching.

Don't cry over spilled milk!

When people dwell in the past, they're like those who try to saw sawdust. What's the point? The only way to profit from it is to analyze the mistakes, and then forget them.

Why not be like the former heavyweight boxing champion George Tunney, whose career ended by two knockout defeats? He immersed himself in the next stage of his life, building a restaurant, doing exhibitions, and keeping busy to the point where he claimed that those ten years had been the best yet.

So you messed up today. Set up tomorrow for greatness!

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