Chicken Soup for the Soul 20th Anniversary Edition (40 page)

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.

~Frank Tibolt

1. Inspiration

2. Permission

3. Reassurance

4. The coffee to be ready

5. My turn

6. Someone to smooth the way

7. The rest of the rules

8. Someone to change

9. Wider fairways

10. Revenge

11. The stakes to be lower

12. More time

13. A significant relationship to:

(a) improve

(b) terminate

(c) happen

14. The right person

15. A disaster

16. Time to almost run out

17. An obvious scapegoat

18. The kids to leave home

19. A Dow-Jones of 1500

20. The lion to lie down with the lamb

21. Mutual consent

22. A better time

23. A more favorable horoscope

24. My youth to return

25. The two-minute warning

26. The legal profession to reform

27. Richard Nixon to be re-elected

28. Age to grant me the right of eccentricity

29. Tomorrow

30. Jacks or better

31. My annual checkup

32. A better circle of friends

33. The stakes to be higher

34. The semester to start

35. My way to be clear

36. The cat to stop clawing the sofa

37. An absence of risk

38. The barking dog next door to leave town

39. My uncle to come home from the service

40. Someone to discover me.

41. More adequate safeguards

42. A lower capital gains rate

43. The statue of limitations to run out

44. My parents to die (Joke!)

45. A cure for herpes/AIDS

46. The things that I do not understand or approve of to go away

47. Wars to end

48. My love to rekindle

49. Someone to be watching

50. A clearly written set of instructions

51. Better birth control

52. The ERA to pass

53. An end to poverty, injustice, cruelty, deceit, incompetence, pestilence, crime and offensive suggestions

54. A competing patent to expire

55. Chicken Little to return

56. My subordinates to mature

57. My ego to improve

58. The pot to boil

59. The new credit card

60. The piano tuner

61. This meeting to be over

62. My receivables to clear

63. The unemployment checks to run out

64. Spring

65. My suit to come back from the cleaners

66. My self-esteem to be restored

67. A signal from Heaven

68. The alimony payments to stop

69. The gems of brilliance buried within my first bumbling efforts to be recognized, applauded and substantially rewarded so that I can work on the second draft in comfort

70. A reinterpretation of
Robert’s Rules of Order

71. Various aches and pains to subside

72. Shorter lines at the bank

73. The wind to be freshen

74. My children to be thoughtful, neat, obedient and self-supporting

75. Next season

76. Someone else to screw up

77. My current life to be declared a dress rehearsal with some script changes permitted before opening night

78. Logic to prevail

79. The next time around

80. You to stand out of my light

81. My ship to come in

82. A better deodorant

83. My dissertation to be finished

84. A sharp pencil

85. The check to clear

86. My wife, film or boomerang to come back

87. My doctor’s approval, my father’s permission, my minister’s blessing or my lawyer’s okay

88. Morning

89. California to fall into the ocean

90. A less turbulent time

91. The Iceman to Cometh

92. An opportunity to call collect

93. A better write-off

94. My smoking urges to subside

95. The rates to go down

96. The rates to go up

97. The rates to stabilize

98. My grandfather’s estate to be settled

99. Weekend rates

100. A cue card

101. You to go first

~David B. Campbell

The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything either as a blessing or a curse.

~Don Juan

R
oger Crawford had everything he needed to play tennis — except two hands and a leg. When Roger’s parents saw their son for the first time, they saw a baby with a thumb-like projection extended directly out of his right forearm and a thumb and one finger stuck out of his left forearm. He had no palms. The baby’s arms and legs were shortened, and he had only three toes on his shrunken right foot and a withered left leg, which would later be amputated.

The doctor said Roger suffered from ectrodactylism, a rare birth defect affecting only one out of 90,000 children born in the United States. The doctor said Roger would probably never walk or care for himself.

Fortunately Roger’s parents didn’t believe the doctor.

“My parents always taught me that I was only as handicapped as I wanted to be,” said Roger. “They never allowed me to feel sorry for myself or take advantage of people because of my handicap. Once I got into trouble because my school papers were continually late,” explained Roger, who had to hold his pencil with both “hands” to write slowly. “I asked Dad to write a note to my teachers, asking for a two-day extension on my assignments. Instead Dad made me start writing my paper two days early!”

Roger’s father always encouraged him to get involved in sports, teaching Roger to catch and throw a volleyball, and play backyard football after school. At age 12, Roger managed to win a spot on the school football team.

Before every game, Roger would visualize his dream of scoring a touchdown. Then one day he got his chance. The ball landed in his arms and off he ran as fast as he could on his artificial leg toward the goal line, his coach and teammates cheering wildly. But at the 10-yard line, a guy from the other team caught up with Roger, grabbing his left ankle. Roger tried to pull his artificial leg free, but instead it ended up being pulled off.

“I was still standing up,” recalls Roger. “I didn’t know what else to do so I started hopping towards the goal line. The referee ran over and threw his hands into the air. Touchdown! You know, even better than the six points was the look on the face of the other kid who was holding my artificial leg.”

Roger’s love of sports grew and so did his self-confidence. But not every obstacle gave way to Roger’s determination. Eating in the lunchroom with the other kids watching him fumble with his food proved very painful to Roger, as did his repeated failure in typing class. “I learned a very good lesson from typing class,” said Roger. “You can’t do
everything
— it’s better to concentrate on what you can do.”

One thing Roger could do was swing a tennis racket. Unfortunately, when he swung it hard, his weak grip usually launched it into space. By luck, Roger stumbled upon an odd-looking tennis racket in a sports shop and accidentally wedged his finger between its double-barred handle when he picked it up. The snug fit made it possible for Roger to swing, serve and volley like an able-bodied player. He practiced every day and was soon playing — and losing — matches.

But Roger persisted. He practiced and practiced and played and played. Surgery on the two fingers of his left hand enabled Roger to grip his special racket better, greatly improving his game. Although he had no role models to guide him, Roger became obsessed with tennis and in time he started to win.

Roger went on to play college tennis, finishing his tennis career with 22 wins and 11 losses. He later became the first physically handicapped tennis player to be certified as a teaching professional by the United States Professional Tennis Association. Roger now tours the country, speaking to groups about what it takes to be a winner, no matter who you are.

“The only difference between you and me is that you can see my handicap, but I can’t see yours. We
all
have them. When people ask me how I’ve been able to overcome my physical handicaps, I tell them that I haven’t overcome anything. I’ve simply learned what I can’t do — such as play the piano or eat with chopsticks — but more importantly, I’ve learned what I
can
do. Then I do what I can with all my heart and soul.”

~Jack Canfield

Experience is not what happens to a man.

It is what a man does with what happens to him.

~Aldous Huxley

W
hat if at age 46 you were burned beyond recognition in a terrible motorcycle accident, and then four years later were paralyzed from the waist down in an airplane crash? Then, can you imagine yourself becoming a millionaire, a respected public speaker, a happy newlywed and a successful businessperson? Can you see yourself going whitewater rafting? Skydiving? Running for political office?