Time to Read – 3 Minutes
And so it was that in 1982 young Abraham Lincoln lost his job. And the Discouragement Fraternity sneered and said unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” And Abe, intimidated, hung his head low and crawled back under yon rock from whence he came.
And so it was that later in that same year Abe ran for the Legislature of Illinois and was badly defeated. And the Discouragement Fraternity sneered and said unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” And Abe, intimidated, hung his head low and crawled back under yon rock from whence he came.
And so it was that this pattern continued – tried his hand at business in 1833 and went broke, ran for Speaker in 1838 and lost, was overwhelmingly defeated in a bid for nomination to Congress in 1843, rejected for appointment to the U.S. Land Office in 1849, soundly beaten for U.S Senate seat in 1854, defeated for nomination for Vice-President in 1856 – and after each failure, the Discouragement Fraternity, always more than happy to be of help, sneered and said unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” And each time Abe, intimidated, hung his head low and crawled back under yon rock from whence he came.
Then in 1858, after once again being defeated for U.S Senate, and after once again enduring the Discouragement Fraternity sneering and saying unto him: “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you successful?” , a funny thing happened on the way back to yon rock from whence he came.
Abe thought for a moment, scratched his head, then finally came to the conclusion that intimidators must have more fun than intimidatees.
Thus concluding, he looked up at the Discouragement Fraternity and replied: “Stick thy finger up thy noses and go fly thee a kite.”
…And lo and behold, Abe, the ex-intimidatee, became President…and saved the Union.
And the members of the Discouragement Fraternity – fingers in noses and kites in hands – said unto Abe: “Bravo! We always knew thou would be successful.”
…Whereupon Abe displayed a gentle smile and walked quietly away.
(From Winning through Intimidation, by Robert J. Ringer)
With persistence, love and best wishes David X