The Power of Belief

Whether we succeed or not depends upon the attitude we take given the circumstances of what is handed to us. Success is more in our view point of the circumstances, than anything else.

Written Dec 27, 2008, read 181 times since then.

Henry Ford said: "believe you can, believe you can't, either way your right."

We are living in challenging times and no one has to explain that to us. What we may not know is that our viewpoint of the times will determine whether we are successful or whether or not we shall fail.

In 1993 I was paragliding and fell 70 feet on my back and broke my neck. I was instantly paralyzed. I recall my first thought. "I never dreamed this would happen to me". I became instantly engaged in a process that would require 6 months hospitalization and a physical therapy 8-hour day as I learnt how to walk again. My neck was broken at C6 and I had done permanent spinal cord injury. My future was very unknown to everyone but me.

From deep within me I found the entire experience positive. I never dreamed I would not recover. I never pictured myself in a wheel chair for the rest of my life. I just knew I had to give my all to my recovery, and in so doing I recovered much of my mobility.

I have told many people since "The best thing that ever happened to me is that I broke my neck". I constantly get the response that is a strange way to view your accident. Then I say, "OK, the worst thing that ever happened to me is that I broke my neck. Which way would you look at the experience given I had broken my neck?"

The power of belief is well documented. The mind can return from all types of adversity. People are incredibly powerful if they give themselves the willingness to achieve success in the face of difficult odds.

As a community of business people, we are all trying to make our way through these tough economic times, and it is easy to just let down and give up. But in so doing we shall achieve nothing. Better to fight back. Better to hold onto the power of positive thinking.

During my 6 months in hospital many incidents helped me in my recovery. But undoubtedly the strongest gift was the power of friendship and the strength in people supporting people. That got me through the hardest times, and the bleakest nights.

Community is power. If we support each other, we can make it to the end goal, whatever we decide that is for us. But it requires people supporting people. It requires community. Thi site is a perfect comminity for such an adventure.

Obama is the President elect because he understands community organization. He could have taken any job upon graduation but chose to go to Chicago and make $13,000 per year as a community organizer. He was ridiculed by some for having such small capabilities, but the truth is the last laugh is upon his critics, because he community organized himself right into the White House. And now, he intends to community organize the USA into a full economic recovery.

I have no doubt he will succeed. It is not him, it is us. He constantly says so. And he is right. But he does provide the right backdrop for "US" to make it. He is the right leader for the right time.

I encourage all of us to community organize ourselves into a successful venture. I encourage all of us to view life positively rather than hopelessly.

Learn more about the author, Stephen Martin.

Comment on this article

Posted by Chris Kelly, Bainbridge island, Washington | Dec 27, 2008

Coming together and supporting one another is undoubtedly essential at all times but especially at times like these. The tricky question is, for people that are not associated with forums like this but are small community businesses...how do you convince and implement a program that proves to be in the best interest of all and not to worry about competition between similar businesses but growth of the community as a whole???
Posted by Kate Phillips, Carnation, Washington | Dec 27, 2008

THanks for sharing your story, Stephan! I LOVE this line:

"My future was very unknown to everyone but me."

That says everything, not only in business, but in life. You made a choice and did not see failure as an option. When I see business people wondering "what if" they don't succeed, looking around for other opportunities, I know they are doomed, because they have not chosen to push past all obstacles.

Yes, you had tons of support. But you could have decided to remain paralyzed, and you would have still had tons of support to do that. Your community will tend to support whatever beliefs you have.

And it probably was the best thing that ever happened to you... now everything else probably doesn't look so hard!

Thanks again.

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Posted by Leslie Coll, Hartford, Connecticut | Dec 27, 2008

Thanks for your story, very inspirational. I broke my ankle the end of June and also found it to be very enlightening. I now am bonding with introverts, whereas before I just rapidly moved by them. Attitude is everything that is for sure. It is not what happens to you, it is how you handle it. It took me a long time to grasp this powerful insight. Blessings, Leslie, your Resource Realtor in Connecticut
Posted by Maura Desimone, Seattle, Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Washington | Dec 29, 2008

What a great article! I too believe in the incredible power of positive thinking. I was in a car accident about 5 years ago, which was the cause of me re-evaluating my life and it's course. I could've spent my remaining days on powerful drugs and costly surgeries to recover, but instead I chose to do a lot of other things that have resulted in my recovery and the renewal of my business. Forward ho!

Maura Desimone, Zendezignz
Posted by Jim Carney, Bellingham, Washington | Dec 29, 2008

Those wonderful stories like yours which cause us to evaluate or re-evaluate then can be deemed inspirational. Simply because they inspire us to do or to change. What you can or can't do now forces you to live differently and to think thru things before acting or responding. And if we do that in business we will be way ahead. Thanks for the blessing of your article.

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Posted by JASON NITROMAN, LANGLEY, British Columbia Canada | Dec 31, 2008

Hey Stephen............I am an Oilologist from Canada. I see no one in Canada responded to what you wrote. Well, I want to be the first Canadian to let you know that your scary event in life and how you made changes, does effect people up here as well. Your postive attitude and your postive mind is what makes the difference everyday. Just ask me, they said I could never do it either. I now have developed the world's most powerful Lubricants. I practice this every day.....On my office wall...I have a saying I came up with....."Let your Mind take you there...Let your skills get you there". Success in 2009...All the Best ..."NitroMan"