"Many of life's failures are people who didn't understand how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas A. Edison
Thomas Alva Edison
I often look at these inspirational words when I need a boost to continue to work hard. It seems that sometimes people simply don't realize that they are close to being successful and they give up right before the success occurs. If only they had hung in there a little while longer they would have seen that all of their hard work had indeed paid off. I believe success means different things to different people but failure has more of a universal meaning. Failure means giving up; not trying anymore. And people have many reasons for giving up. The problem is the nearness of success that people don't realize before they throw in the towel. I compare it to a football game, in that a person can run the whole field, get to the one-yard-line and give up, not realizing that they were just about to score a touchdown! In life, a lot of times we just can't see the end zone even though it's very close to us. I remember a motivational speaker giving comparison to a combination lock. You know the type of lock that is usually used for bikes that has the horizontal combination of four numbers? Well, he said that most people have three of the four numbers already. And the fourth number could come from anywhere! Lyrics from a song, a conversation with a co-worker, a Bible scripture etc. And when you receive the forth number to your combination you are now ready to be unlocked. Unlocked to the successes that are being lived by people who never gave up.
