All of us from time to time have felt like a failure yet upon closer examination we find that is not quite the case.  However when we get caught up in some type of substance usage we unfortunately may find that is usually the case.  Substances tend to move us so far away from our capabilities it seems nearly sinful.  The potential that each human being has is phenomenal and, once captured, helps one to soar to heights almost unimaginable.  So will you be one that uses your potential or uses substances?

Consider these Failures…But Not Quite: 

• After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, a 1933 memo from the MGM testing director said, “Can’t act.  Slightly bald.  Can dance a little.”  Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.
• A relatively unsuccessful marketer of restaurant equipment, he didn’t sell his first hamburger until age 52.  At a time when many people prepare for retirement, Ray Kroc built McDonald’s from a handful of hamburger stands into the world’s largest food chain.
• When his older brother was killed during WWII, he first withdrew into a shell.  Then he began to listen to the radio to ease his pain.  Soon he was dreaming about hosting his own radio show.  That led Dick Clark to start American Bandstand.
• Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper for lacking ideas.  He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

These folks were given no more potential than the rest of us, the difference is that they all took that potential and turned it into their “success”.  What will you do with your potential?  Will you become your own “success”  (i.e. failure….not quite)?

“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t been in bed with a mosquito.”  —  Anita Roddick