Taken for granted

Do you own car? A computer? Shirts? Dresses? Does your house have light bulbs?

Look around at all the things you own or use in your everyday life and which you take for granted. I do not mean the practical, valuable use of those things. Rather, I am thinking of the struggle those people went through in pursuit of their dream and did not give up. As a result you and I now enjoy the fruits of their labors.

I think of Thomas Watson, IBM founder, how his own family snickered at his mention his clock and tabulation machine manufacturer would some day be the biggest in the world.

I think of Michael Dell, alone in a tiny kiosk at a trade show he managed to squeeze in because of a vendor's cancelation at the last hour. Those same engineers from across the way would eventually get past their snickering to seek employment with the young men just two or three years later.

I think of Thomas Edison who went through over more than a thousand light bulbs before he finally got the lasting results. Do you suppose all who knew him rallied their support behind him over such a insane idea as creating a light fixture. And even if he were to make a light bulb how was that going to earn him money? By selling it? Who would want to pay for such a useless thing?

Walt Disney endured the ridicule of his wife who mocked "whose going to want come and pay to see dwarfs at a park".

One thing to note is these individuals, whether young or old, had their families in mind primarily and secondarily those who would benefit and be blessing through their work. I do not believe any of these individuals set out to amass a fortune. It was merely a by-product of their dream come true.

Dream on, everybody.