Belief
Author Unknown
Several years ago, I came across a story about belief. Unfortunately, the author is unknown, but perhaps the story can remind us of the importance our thoughts have in what we believe and achieve.
“A young man had been working for a company for many years, and one day, unexpectedly, the company went out of business, leaving him without a job. He had always thought about starting his own business selling handmade crafts, but he had convinced himself that he could not do it. He believed that it probably wouldn’t work and that no one would be interested in his crafts. He also didn’t want to risk all the money he had been saving.
The young man decided to take a walk in the park to reorganize his thoughts. As he sat on a park bench, feeding the birds, a nicely dressed older gentleman walked up and sat beside him. In their conversation the young man explained what had happened and of his idea to sell his crafts. He also told the older man that he believed his idea would fail and he didn’t want to take the risk.
The older man listened intently, then stood up and said, “In my many years as president of a large bank, I have met a number of people like you. I feel that if you believe that you will succeed and affirm that belief to yourself often, then you will.” The young man said, “I don’t believe that I can, and I am afraid to fail.” The old man said, “Son, I can help you.” He then reached into his pocket and wrote out a check. Pushing the check into the young man’s hand he said, “I am old and do not have many years left to spend the money I have saved. Use this check to start your business and meet me here exactly one year from today and you can pay back the loan then.” The old man shook his hand and walked away. The young man couldn’t believe what had happened. When he returned home and unfolded the check and to his surprise the check was for ten thousand dollars!
Over the next eleven months the young man worked hard building his business. It was becoming very successful. He worked day and night just to keep up with the orders. He never once had to cash the check. On the twelfth month, the young man returned to the park, just as they had agreed, to meet the generous man that had given him the loan. At exactly the agreed upon time, the old man approached him and sat down. Just as the young man was getting ready to hand him the un-cashed check and to tell him about his new success, a lady in a nurse’s uniform ran quickly up to the old man and grabbed his arm. She apologized to the young man and said, “I am so glad that I found him. I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always wandering away from the nursing home and going around telling people he’s a retired president of some large bank. What an imagination! She took the old man’s arm and led him away.
The young man just sat there, frozen to the bench. All year long he had been working at his new business with passion,. Knowing he had a check for ten thousand dollars that he could cash anytime. At least that is what he thought. It suddenly dawned on him that he made his new business a success based upon his belief in himself and the attitude that he could achieve what he truly desired, if he believed in his mind that he could.”
Your belief in yourself is one of the most important attitudes affecting your performance. Unfortunately, many people pass through life selling themselves short. They allow their self-limiting beliefs to restrain them from taking risks or trying new things. Today, turn your beliefs into a blank check, start fresh and then write yourself a fortune in happiness and success.
“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” Muhammad Ali
