Harris: Success is attainable if we try, try again

Yes, you can.  Yes, I can. There are many people in history who’ve proven it is up to the individual where they will register on the success scale of life.  Bud and I went to Branson, Missouri for a short vacation and we came away with solid proof of this.  Many famous people have entertained the troops there.

Willie Nelson is in his 90’s.  Among his newest ‘works’ are such lyrics as “Heaven’s closed, it’s overcrowded, so I think I’ll stay where I am.” Among his many remarks is, “The doctor says singing is the best exercise for the lungs.”  I disagree with him. Personally, I believe breathing should be number one!

Martha Graham once said, “We learn everything by practice.”  Breathing is something we learn with our first breath, although sometimes the doctor has to give us some encouragement with a swift whack on the backside.

As we move through life we have to learn how to eat, how to walk, how to go potty and many other basics.  Now, these things are automatic, which shows any repetitive action can instill solid proof that success can become a way of life.

Robert Goddard was laughed at (and some probably thought him to be a bit addled) because he insisted one day we would be able to escape earth’s gravity and go to the moon. That’s the way it is with many who dare to share their dreams.  Most who are a success today have suffered some setbacks, but through trial and error, almost anything can happen if one will just try, try and try again.  (That’s how Henry Ford helped us all to drive a car. The assembly line worked its charm.)

There have been several people who have lost an arm or a leg and successfully overcame their disability.  Steve Petrie, one of my early students, lost his dominant arm in a farm accident the second week of school.  By the end of the school year, he was back to writing using his other hand.

Jim Abbot and Peter Gray played Major League baseball with one hand.  Several runners are running with a prosthetic, having to relearn the art of walking that most of us take for granted.  Practice does make perfect, or at least close enough for us to be successful to overcome what nature so willingly tosses into our path.

Any repetitive action can become automatic through constant practice.  Too often people waste valuable time by bragging on themselves; by gossiping about others; by complaining.  John Paul Jones refused to surrender, telling the enemy, “I have not yet begun to fight!”  That’s what we must decide when something we’re doing seems to offer a problem.

Age doesn’t matter when it comes to success.  Shirley Temple proved this by being the most popular actress when she was very young.  Many 80- and 90-year-olds have invented things that make our life so much easier today.

So what’s your dream?  What is the one thing you’d like to accomplish?  If a woman who is blind and deaf can go to college, write books, speak at big gatherings, can those of us who take these skills for granted do any less?

Helen Keller overcame.  Think of the practice it took her to learn how to pronounce words when she couldn’t hear how to say them.  Never be jealous of another’s success.  Be too busy working on your own dream to give your precious time to such a mundane thing.

When Bud and I visited Branson we heard a singer who has the best male voice I’ve ever heard.  His name is Daniel Keeton and he was named Male Vocalist of the year in 2019.  The way he sang the old Sinatra songs, or the Dean Martin songs, his smooth high notes still reverberate in my mind.  Certainly, it took practice and hard work to get where he’s at in his life.

Any of us can become a success.  We just have to have the ‘want to,’ and to be willing to put in the hours of hard work that our success requires.

Everyone has to start somewhere and keep the old engine running until it gets up to top speed.  Practice does make perfect (as the old saying goes); that's where we come into the picture!  We each hold the answer to “Can I do this?”  Only the individual can answer this question in the positive.

As the old song says, That’s life” and what a life it can be. After all, success is a personal choice.

Faye Harris is a former Lenawee County resident who retired from North Adams Schools. She can be reached at fayeharris77@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Faye Harris: Success is attainable if we try, try again