Pearls & Pigs

Do you know anyone who has the tendancy to tell you what you "can't" do? They're constantly able to see why you will be incapable of achieving your life's goals. I'm not sure whom to attribute the quote, but i've heard it said: "If you think you can or if you think you can't, you're right!"

It is my opinion that most people are consistently telling you what is/isn't possible because:

• They don't want to feel as if their goals are invalid or less important
• They've given up on similar dreams
• They believe there's some form of magic to successful implementation of a life goal
• They encourage mediocrity as it will keep them comfortable

The word "can't" should have no place in your normal vocabulary. Even to the point that you look for other ways of saying a sentence that would normally have the word in it. It is infuriating to hear children (creations of endless potential) utter the word! Most kids have learned of things that are impossible from their parents. Granted, there are things that are considered humanly impossible. But there are just as many things that are considered impossible by adults just because they haven't accomplished them.

Call me a foolish child, but I've seen far too many people who do the "impossible" with a deck stacked firmly against them! Take Kyle Maynard for example... Here's a young man who was born with arms that stop at the elbows and stubs for legs and deformed feet. It would have been far too easy for his parents to have crippled him with limitations imposed by the perception of his "handicap." [purposely in quotes]. However, is Kyle handicapped? Would he consider himself handicapped? That is doubtful. In fact, I would think he is more capable than many people who have every finger & toe & hair.

Y'see, handicap has nothing to do with hands, but lots to do with one's "cap." It's all about what's in your mind. Your handicap must first start from a mental surrender to the word "can't." I had one guy tell me that I was going to be unable to make money with the stock market. I had a 3rd grade teacher who told my parents that I would likely never go to college (ahem, college graduate here!) and possibly never graduate high school.

There are teachers that tell my wife that some of her ESOL students will need to repeat their grade (this is generally communicated around September – November). Little do they know, many of these students (if they don't drop out from frustration caused by retention) will actually be farther ahead than their peers by the 8th – 10th grade because they're already BILINGUAL. By the way... most bilingual children have DOUBLE THE VOCABULARY THAT YOUR KIDS HAVE SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY CAN COMMUNICATE IN TWO Languages. And most of your kids don't even speak English properly!

Number 1. If you have the Co-Jones to come to me and tell me that I "can't," you'd better have big brass ones to take the verbal abuse i'm going to hurl in your face because I don't believe in "can't."

Number 2. If you tell a kid that they "can't," I hope they grow up to prove you wrong. Then I hope your kids have to go work for them so that it will be an eternal reminder that you believed the lie that you couldn't when another person simply put effort behind their life.

Number 3. The next time you see a Hispanic doing a job you think should belong to an american, STOP COMPLAINING and YOU go apply for the job. You'll get canned because (a.) Their application process started in Mexico! When you're lazy butt wouldn't wake up early to walk across the street to get a job, they woke up and walked thru mexico, swam across a river, jumped a wall, walked across a desert & risked life & limb just to get that job.

Number 4. Next time you see a person who is in the US Military, TELL THEM: "Thank You!" because they made it possible for you to wake up as an American one more day.

Go get the book: Success Is Not An Accident by Tommy Newberry.