Life Is to Be Lived to the Fullest

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.

—Helen Keller (1880-1968)
American author, political

activist, lecturer

I am reminded all too often of just how short life can be. Oh, sure, I am constantly pointing out the many people who live to age 100 today. But we are never given, at the time of our birth, a certificate of guarantee that we will live to any specific age. So, life was given to you and me. The true miracle of life was bestowed upon us to be lived to the fullest.

To not live one’s life to the max is the same as covering up a work of art so that the light and air won’t fade it. Or locking up the diamond engagement ring, or a new Cadillac, for fear of its getting stolen, lost, or damaged.

We insult our Creator if we don’t give life everything we have to give without holding anything back.

I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle—victorious.
—Vince Lombardi (1913-1970)
American football coach

Why do some people live on the edge, right on the brink of disaster, while others take the easy road, bypassing many opportunities all along their life’s journey?
Maybe it is time to consider living dangerously. Maybe it’s time to reject the commands of power, the dictates of society and public opinion, and to stop worrying about what other people think about what you do. You have the power and ability to create your own reality—to change what isn’t working, and to manifest what you desire. —Dick Sutphen
author and psychic researcherr

I remember the day Walt Disney died. I was a boy of eleven, living in New Jersey. On that day, December 15, 1966, I was delivering newspapers, and when I went to a particular home, a man told me Walt Disney had just died.

Walt Disney, to me, meant Mickey Mouse, the Mouseketeers, and cartoons. Little did I know at the time that Walt was one of the most elaborate visionaries of all time. Of course, he died far too early at the age of sixty-four, but Walt Disney lived his life on the edge.

Those Who Dared To Fail—in Order to Succeedr
It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
26th President of the United States

Walt Disney clearly was the animation king of all time, the forefather of cartoon excellence and new, unique techniques. Walt, along with his brother Roy, produced animation classics. But his road to success had so many roadblocks that an average person would have abandoned all dreams way before they came to pass. Not Walt.

Born in 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, Walt started drawing as a young boy. He went on to start a small animation business out of his garage, where he worked at night after his day job. He created short cartoons in the garage on a shoestring.

Before long, Walt and Roy began a new business venture, making more cartoons together. They rented a cheap room. They ate all their meals in a cafeteria, where one brother would order a meat dish and the other would order vegetables and they would share with each other to save money.

Walt once recalled, “We cooked, ate, and slept in that one room, and had to walk about a mile before we reached the bathroom; and yet when I think back, we had a grand time in those days.”

Walt’s first Mickey Mouse silent film was a disaster. And when he made another Mickey movie, Steamboat Willie, no distributor wanted it. So Walt distributed it independently. He hit snags all along the way, even filing for bankruptcy a few times. Each new film almost put him out of business forever.

In 1927, Walt tried to get MGM to back Mickey Mouse, but he was rejected and told the idea would never work—a giant mouse on the screen would terrify women!

Yet, Walt Disney stuck with his dreams, didn’t allow anyone to kill his inspiration, and ultimately succeeded beyond his wildest expectations. In the end, he received fifty-nine Academy Award nominations and won twenty-six Oscars and seven Emmy Awards. The Walt Disney Company today has annual revenues of $35 billion.
Never Give In; Never Give Up!
Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly.
—Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)
n American politician and civil rights

activist

When young Thomas Edison was in school, his teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” Yet, Edison invented the incandescent light bulb against all odds. He made over one thousand unsuccessful attempts—failures—before perfecting the world-changing invention.

Jerry Seinfeld, the award-winning comedian, executive producer, and millionaire was booed off the stage during his first stand-up comedy act. He was terrible. Of course, he could have hung it all up that very night. After all, look at the pressure of trying to make a room full of people laugh, especially as an unknown comedian. But, of course, Jerry Seinfeld went on to excel in his field.

Even Elvis Presley was fired after his very first performance at the Grand Ole Opry. He was told he had no talent.

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, never, never, never give up.
—Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
n British politicia

Even Bill Gates was originally written off as a failure by many people. Bill Gates, considered the world’s richest man, and the founder and chairman of Microsoft, as a young man dropped out of Harvard University. Yet, he went on to prove the world wrong about him and to change the world of computers forever. You see, Bill just had to find his niche.

So, what is your niche? What fire do you have in your belly? What fires you up every day and occupies your mind more than anything else? Dream that dream! Achieve that goal! Be all you want to be!

As I have stated before, writing this book was my burning desire. I had an all-consuming desire to finish it. It was the first thing I thought of when I opened my eyes and the last thing I visualized in bed at night. I was consumed as I did research and wrote every word out in longhand.

I had written it with every spare minute I had. There was a great deal of in-depth research and time invested, but the work never once fazed me, because I was that consumed with its completion.

We cannot possibly be consumed with everything in life. That new and shiny acoustic guitar I purchased had to be put on hold. I will pick it up again sometime in the future. You see, it is not an all-consuming desire at this time.

To make sure that this book remains my all-consuming desire for the couple of years I expect it will take until its printing date, I told everyone about my undertaking it. I even posted notes on Facebook, Twitter, and every website pertaining to writers. Once I announce to the world that I am writing a new and outstanding self-help book, there is no way I can back down. Everyone I know keeps asking, “So when will it be available? How is it going so far?”

I put pressure on myself to write the best book of my life. But that is all right—I thrive on challenges. In fact, I welcome it when someone tells me I can’t do something or that something is impossible. I love the impossible. All worthwhile inventions in the world were once impossible.

I still get a kick out of my very first iPod by Apple Computers. I have about eleven hundred songs on this tiny piece of metal component that measures an eighth of an inch thick and about one and a half inches wide by three inches long. Of course, my iPod is very much out-of-date, and I will be purchasing an updated model. But I am amazed. Old-fashioned albums used to be played on a record player, but I can fit approximately one hundred twenty of those old records on this mini-computer! And the new ones hold four thousand songs and full movie videos, too. As Napoleon Hill said, what the mind of man can conceive and believe it will ultimately achieve. Someone had a dream. Someone did the impossible with the iPod invention.

James Cameron just broke all records with his latest movie blockbuster, Avatar. He waited until the needed technology could catch up to his advanced thinking. He worked on the film for over ten years, and the outcome is that all future films such as his will use this newfound technology with which he broke ground.
We Are Each Born into This World Destined for Greatness!

Great discoveries and undertakings are the results of dedicated people who refuse to give in to failure and are not afraid of the hard work required. They stand out from the crowd and lead the way for all of us to admire.

In 2010, reconstructive-surgery expert Professor Laurent Lantieri led a team of ten surgeons at the Henri-Mondor University Hospital in Créteil, France, south of Paris, in completing a successful nineteen-hour operation—what is claimed to be the world’s first full face transplant. The operation was performed on a 35-year-old man with neuro-fibromatosis, a genetic illness known colloquially as Elephant Man disease, which causes tumors to grow on nerve endings, severely disfiguring the face. Afterwards, the patient had full control over his eyelids and tear ducts. He is even growing stubble.

The very rare procedure began with a seven-hour operation to remove the face from a patient who had died just a few hours earlier. Then came a twelve-hour procedure to transplant the face onto its new owner and reconnect the veins and muscles.

Inventions, discoveries, and breakthroughs are all performed by visionaries, great people who convince us that we, too, can be great and that nothing at all is impossible.

C- 2011 John Paul Carinci