The Turtle on a Fence

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

There is an old cliché that behind every successful man there is a woman. In most, if not all, cases, success is a direct result of the efforts of the individual and the support and encouragement of another person or persons.
Like the fellow says, when you see a turtle on a fence post, you can rest assured that he did not get there by himself. When you see an individual climbing the success ladder and reaching the top, you can rest assured he or she did not get there entirely as a result of his or her own efforts. In virtually every case they had hope and encouragement from others.
Nathaniel Hawthorne is a good example. He was discouraged and had a broken heart when he went home to tell his wife that he was a failure because he had been fired from his job in the customs house.
Upon hearing the news she startled him with an exuberant exclamation of joy. “Now,” she said triumphantly, “you can write your book!”
To that, Hawthorne responded with the question, “What are we going to live on while I am writing this book?” To his surprise and delight, she opened a drawer and drew out a substantial sum of money.
“Where did you get that?” he asked. Her response is classic: “I’ve always known you were a man of genius,” she told him, “and I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece, so every week, out of the money you gave me for housekeeping, I saved part of it. Here’s enough to last us for a whole year.”
From his wife’s trust, confidence, thrift and careful planning came one of the classics of American literature – The Scarlet Letter.
That story can be repeated a few thousand times – or make that a few million. It happens all the time.

Enjoyed today’s post? Then please ‘like & share’ this page so someone else can benefit from it!

Brian and Lori Gosur

Join Me on My Facebook Page – Facebook.com/BrianGosur

If you like this post, “The Turtle on a Fence”,  than please re-tweet this and don’t forget to let us know what you think by leaving your comment!