Story: The Persistent Loser Who Wouldn’t Give Up… And Became “Oscar Worthy”
You are going to have many opportunities to give up and forget about your goals for 2013.
You’ll have many walls that you will come up against.
If you’re not careful, you will give up and settle for life the way it is.
When you do remember the story I am about to tell you.
The Very Persistent Loser
It’s a story about a “loser” who just wouldn’t give up – no matter what life threw at him.
And because of that stubborn persistence, he is now one of the most famous men who ever lived.
Take a look at his hopeless journey.
1816 His family was forced out of their home. Because of this he had to work to support them.
1818 Two years later tragedy struck again. His dear mother died.
1831 He failed in business.
1832 Since business didn’t seem to work, he decided to run for state legislature –and he lost. Not only that, he lost his job and wanted to go to law school, but no matter how much he tried he couldn’t get in.
1833 He decided to try his hand at business again, so he borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business. But, as seemed to be his luck, by the end of the year he was bankrupt. If that wasn’t bad enough, he spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
1834 He decided to try government work again. He ran for state legislature again and to his surprise, he won.
1835 Things seemed to finally be going right for him. He became engaged to be married, but things turned for the worse again. His sweetheart died and he was left with a broken heart.
1836 And as you might expect, after all of these failures and tragedies he ended up having a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838 He decided to keep pursuing politics and decided to become speaker of the state legislature. But guess what? He was defeated.
1840 He still didn’t give up. He decided to become elector – and was defeated.
1843 He stubbornly pushed on. He ran for Congress and you guessed it. He lost.
1846 But you also know what happened by now. Did he quit? Nope. He ran for Congress again. And guess what? This time he won and went to Washington. He ended up doing a good job as a Congressman. Things seemed to be looking up.
1848 With his positive experience under his belt he decided to run for re-election to Congress and he lost. If he would’ve quit here, he wouldn’t be as well known as he is today. Luckily he didn’t quit.
1849 He was discouraged after he loss at re-election, though. Because of this, he sought the job of land officer in his home state and was rejected.
1854 He decided to run for Senate of the United States, this time. And, as usual, he lost.
1856 Never one to be discouraged or aim lower, he sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention. After all of his past experience he thought he had a chance. But he was wrong. He ended up getting less than 100 votes.
1858 For no apparent reason, he decided to run for U.S. Senate again – and still again he lost.
The Unexpected Ending
What happened next is the surprising twist to a depressing story…
In 1860, he was elected president of the United States.
Who was this loser? His name was Abraham Lincoln.
A man, not known as a “loser” at all, but a man who many consider the greatest president the United States has ever had.
He was considered such a great man, that movies are still being made about him.
You might have heard of a recent one. It’s a little film called, “Lincoln” that just received 12 Oscar nominations.
When you get frustrated, tired and want to quit some time this year, then remember the story of this “loser.”
Photo by Elsie esq.
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