A Wishing Tree

There is a parable about a poor man walking through the woods reflecting upon his many troubles. He stopped to rest against a tree, a magical tree that would instantly grant the wishes of anyone who came in contact with it.

He realized he was thirsty and wished for a drink.

Instantly a cup of cool water was in his hand. Shocked, he looked at the water, he decided it was safe and drank it. He then realized he was hungry and wished he had something to eat. A meal appeared before him. “My wishes are being granted,” he thought in disbelief.

“Well, then I wish for a beautiful home of my own,” he said out loud. The home appeared in the meadow before him.

A huge smile crossed his face as he wished for servants to take care of the house. When they appeared he realized he had somehow been blessed with an incredible power and he wished for a beautiful, loving, intelligent woman to share his good fortune.

“Wait a minute, this is ridiculous,” said the man to the woman. “I’m not this lucky. This can’t happen to me.”

As he spoke…everything disappeared. He shook his head and said, “I knew it,” then walked away thinking about his many troubles.

I came across this story and I knew I wanted to share it with you.

It was Henry Ford who said
“Whether you think you can or can’t…you are right.”

I’ve noticed it in many people including myself.

We feel we don’t deserve to win, to achieve success, to be happy. That somehow when things finally go right and happen the way we want them to, that it is too good to be true.

That there is always an either/or choice. Either we are wealthy and unhappy or we are happy but not wealthy.

Why can it not be both? Why do we limit ourselves and deny ourselves from the things we really want?

Have you ever had someone make you a compliment and have them tell you “wow, you’re really good at that, you should consider doing it full time or professionally” or something along the lines where they compliment a talent or skill of yours, and you reply with something like “ah, I’m not really that good, I would never make it”.

I know I’ve done this. With a lot of things I thought I couldn’t do, or didn’t deserve. Now that I look back on that, I really wonder why I ever thought I was not good enough, or that I didn’t have the ability to do something.

You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to.

If you don’t want to do something because you really do not like it, then that is a different story, but don’t not do something because you think you can’t. You Can!

That does not mean that you will be able to do it the first or second time you do it, not at all. To become really good at something often takes hundreds of attempts. But when you fall, dust yourself off and get back up again. Do it again and again and again.

Then, when you feel you’ve failed and want to give up…don’t. You’re so close to getting it.

Keep on doing it. Find another approach, study people who have already achieved what you are aiming to achieve and see what they did, how they think and how long it took them.

Do you think Tiger Woods became a champion overnight? Or Michael Jordan? Or that Will Smith became a celebrity in a year? Or that Bill Gates built up his fortune in a month?

No…of course not. The people who are really successful have often failed hundreds of times more than anyone else, but they did not think that they were not good enough, they kept trying and it is because of this that they are successful.

The point of this post is that the next time you find yourself thinking you are not good enough, or that when you think you don’t deserve something like happiness, success, a beautiful woman or a nice car, when you think that you CAN’T…that you STOP yourself right there.

And when you stop yourself, you tell yourself…”wait a minute…who am I to say I can’t…because I can, and I do deserve it, so I’m going to do it”.

Of course, this does not apply to a stranger saying to you that you can’t jump off a building and fly, and then you think “WHAT…who is this guy to tell me I can’t” and then jump off the building to prove him wrong.

Remember the wishing tree story from above and the fact that if you think you can’t, then that is what will happen. Start thinking “I CAN”. You deserve success. You are enough.