Over 40? - So What!

   

KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON

That old saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" has a ton of truth in it.  Most people fail because they don't keep on trying.  Who knows, the next time after you've given up might be the one that works, but if you stop you'll never find out.  How about a few examples of folks who never gave up no matter what anyone said?

• Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was four years old and didn't read until he was seven.  His teacher said he was "mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams."  He was expelled and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
• Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions rather than improving his technique.  His teacher called him hopeless as a composer.
• Thomas Edison's teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything.
• Henry Ford went broke five times before he finally succeeded.
• Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas.  He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
• Babe Ruth was famous for setting the home run record, but he also holds the record for strikeouts.
• Grandma Moses didn't begin painting until she was 76 years old and kept painting for the rest of her life.  She died at 101.
• Winston Churchill failed sixth grade.  He did not become Prime Minister until he was 62, and then only after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks.
• Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was told by her family to find work as a servant or seamstress.
• Stephen Hawkings never let his severe disabilities stop him from using his brilliant mind. 

Celebrate every small success.  Regard failure as a learning experience and move on.

It's never too late to follow a dream.  If you let rejection, despair and mockery influence what you do, you'll lose the chance to see what you could be.