The Drowning Man

A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.

Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.”

The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.”

So the rowboat went on.

Then a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.”

To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”

So the motorboat went on.

Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.”

To this the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”

So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!”

To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”

https://truthbook.com/stories/funny-god/the-drowning-man

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So many of us humans seem to be craving Divine Intervention, Planets to align, or the entire Universe to conspire to help us SUCCEED. Just as with the drowning man, all too many of us create our own demise by failing to take full responsibility for achieving our success.

Most people who are insanely successful today (1%ers) got that way scratching and crawling and bleeding and sweating and losing sleep and “almost quitting” multiple times. Even in the most excruciating circumstances, they denied defeat. Most endured this seemingly endless gauntlet for 10+ years of primal struggle.

We look at them now and think they’re “so lucky” to be so successful.

Guess what?

It wasn’t luck!

If you want to get “there”, don’t rely on anyone but yourself to get you there. Sure! Some people will contribute to your success along the way, but it’s gonna really boil down consistent persistence and saying “yes” or “no” to all of the issues and opportunities that pop into view.

How will you know which? (Yes or No)

Go ahead and accept the truth that no significant decision will be an easy one.

One of my mentors once told me: “When you come to a fork in the path, take it!”

That’s enough to make any sane person CRAZY, but it is descriptive of pretty much anybody building something great.

This is an amazing story about CEO Michael Cartwright’s resolute determination to save his company from seemingly overwhelming circumstances – from the Nashville Business Journal About the Delisting of AAC Holdings company https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/11/07/delisted-how-aac-holdings-inc-s-ceo-plans-to-turn.html (Sadly – If you’re not a subscriber of the NBJ, you will probably not be able to read it) – Odds are good you can google the company and CEO to find the story told in a more generous/accessible source.

What are you building?

Strategist-CEO of Pareto Realty Real estate sales Professional Inviter-Facilitator-Practicer of Open Space Technology Opening safe space for people & organizations to self-organize around issues & opportunities BarryOwen.US Invite-Listen-Love View more posts