Sometimes ago, I read this life changing story of a balloon salesman on the streets of new York city. This innovative salesman was releasing different colours of balloons in order to attract sales. He released a white, yellow, red, green and all manner of colours but somehow he didn't release a black one.
After a while, a little Negro (black) boy who has been watching and no doubt thinking approached the salesman and asked him "mister, if you release a black balloon, would it also fly?"
*You can understand his predicament, here is a boy who is growing up in a society that has imposed all manner of limitations on him and have told him he can never amount to anything in life because of the colour of his skin. The balloon man looked at that little boy with compassion and understanding, with wisdom he said to the little boy, "son, it is what's inside those balloons that make them go up". What an insight.
*It is not the condition of your life or the opinion of men that hinders you, but what's inside you. You can make it to the top if you look inside. That reminds me, a story of a young black boy by the name Jesse Owens who took the world by surprise and went ahead to win four Olympic gold medals at Berlin in 1936, a time when racism was at it's height, when blacks were treated with ignominy and looked down upon as nobodies.
*His secrets? He had a dream, a goal and a target to become the fastest human being alive. His coach gave him a recipe for climbing the success ladder, which includes:-
- Determination
- Dedication
- Discipline
- Attitude
His success was not celebrated by many, including Germany's Hitler who refused to shake hands with him, but he succeeded anyway.
*Success is not an exclusive or sectarian club. Anybody can succeed. The sweetest revenge you can give to your critics and enemies is to succeed in spite of what they think.
Your success is inside you, not outside you. Rise up, dress up and go up. Remember, Black balloons also fly, you can be black outside but don't black inside.
Recipe for Success:-
"Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing and dream while others are wishing".(William A. Ward).
Don't be the architect of your own failure.