One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window and saw a small girl being swept along in a rain-flooded drainage ditch. Blankenship knew that farther downstream the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath a road, and then emptied into the main channel.
Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the floundering child.
He hurled himself into the deep, churning water, and when he surfaced, was able to grasp her arm. They tumbled over and over until within about three feet of the deep drain, Ray’s free hand felt something—possibly a rock—protruding from the bank. He clung desperately as the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. “If I can just hang on until help comes…” he thought. He did better than that. By the time the fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock.
On April 12, 1989, Ray was awarded the Lifesaving Silver Medal by the US Coast Guard. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew…Ray can’t swim!
Lao Tzu said, “From caring comes courage.” And I challenge you today, be courageous—put on the hero’s courage! What is the hero’s courage? It is knowing that you have the power to help someone else, and that you have the power, or the courage, to care. It is the fuel that makes a hero! http://bit.ly/1GM2cPj
As you pursue your dream, let time work for you by developing, training, practicing, praying and rehearsing. Develop a daily routine that will help you accomplish your life’s goals.
Take a few minutes and ask yourself these questions:
- What is the most important habit I can establish in order to reach my desired dream?
- What morning routines should I establish in order to be highly productive each day?
- What is my most productive time of the day? When should I tackle my creative or administrative tasks?
- Utilize a calendar tool such as “Google Calendar” to schedule each day and set a specific wake up and wind down time each day.
- Create “Tiny Habits.” This can be as simple as putting the tooth brush on a counter so it is there each morning when you wake up. Tiny Habits—develop new routines in your life each and every day.
- Discover the rhythms of life necessary to serve your dream, your family and your God.
Write down three routines right now that you are determined to establish this month.
The phrase “Made by Edison, Installed by Barnes” was developed out of a relationship sought after by a young man named Edwin Barnes. With no money, no contacts and no natural reason to be offered a job, let alone a partnership, Barnes was so determined to meet Edison that although he had no money, he traveled on the freight train as “blind baggage.” Edison recounts how this young man showed up looking like a mere tramp. Yet in Barnes’ eyes Edison saw a certain insatiable desire to obtain his goal, so he hired him to sweep the floors. Though a long way from his sought after goal, Barnes swept those floors with intensity, unwilling to lose the chance not only to work for Edison, but to meet his influential friends.
Barnes literally thought himself into relationship with Edison. He was not willing to give up on his idea of partnership with this great inventor. His opportunity came two years later, and as is typical with opportunity, it slid in the back door disguised as defeat. Edison had invented a new dictating machine, and not one of his current associates saw its potential. Except for Edwin Barnes. Barnes saw the potential of this machine to revolutionize the lifestyle of the business executive, and he set about developing his business plan. So thorough was his plan that Edison could not deny him the opportunity, and Barnes made millions on his first partnership deal.
His success can be attributed to these key habits that he consistently exhibited with great intensity:
- He knew what he wanted to accomplish;
- He used the power of imagination to circumvent poverty and other difficulties;
- He was willing to start at the “bottom” in order to gain know-how and exposure;
- He created and seized opportunity;
- He maintained a dogged determination to bring his goal to reality;
- He worked long hours with concentrated focus for many years to get exactly what he wanted;
- He talked relatively little and produced big;
- He was not deterred by ridicule, criticism, setback, or obstacles.
