I’m sure you would agree with me that Macy’s Department Stores are a great success. But did you know that the founder, R. H. Macy, failed at five different professions before he finally succeeded? Mr. Macy tried his hand as a whaler, retail clerk, gold-miner, stockbroker, and real estate broker, and failed at each of these professions. Like Thomas Edison trying to discover what filament burned brightest and longest in a light bulb, Mr. Macy failed his way to success.

What sustained Mr. Macy through failure after failure? Two things: purpose and persistence. That’s what separates those who achieve from those who merely dream!

Find someone who you consider successful and ask them how they got there. I’m sure you’ll find an interesting journey of failures along the way. That’s the way God keeps us humble when we’re finally blessed.

Tags: failure, persistence, success, trouble

John Quincy Adams was a very popular president. He once refused to give an interview to a woman reporter. He must have misunderstood, a representative of a women’s group told him; there was no plan to take advantage of him in what was then a novel situation.

Adams replied he had not misunderstood; althoug he was willing, at convenient times, to talk with men journalists, he had no intention of breaking with precedent by submitting to an interview with Mrs. Anne Royall – now, or ever.

Maryland native Anne Royall, age 55, was the widow of a Revolutionary War veteran who had been left penniless at her husband’s death. Having no training in any vocation or skill, she had turned to writing to earn a living.

Observing the President’s daily routines, she noticed that he liked to swim in the Potomac very early in the morning. Bathing suits had not yet been invented, so the chief executive frequently went skinny-dipping in the 1.75-mile wide river at 5:00 AM.

Mrs. Royall made her plans carefully and executed them on a morning in the mid-1820s. Very early she went to the bank of the river at a point south of the executive mansion. She watched while the president undressed, folded his clothes neatly, and thrust them into a clump of willows. When he was in water up to his arm pits, Anne Royall emerged from hiding, unfolded the garments and waved them at Adams, and then sat down on them.

The president waded within speaking distance and ordered her to return his clothes and go away. She laughed and introduced herself and explained that she had come for an interview. He reluctantly agreed to see her at the executive mansion.

She had no intention of doing anything of the sort, she said. She wanted his views on a number of pressing national topics, and she wanted them now. If he did not answer her questions promptly, she warned, she would begin to scream to attract the attention of fishermen downstream.

Standing in water up to his chin, John Quincy Adams responded to Anne Royall’s questions and completed the interview. That’s a great lesson on persistence. Perhaps its also the origin of the Secret Service.

Tags: Adams, persistence

Someone once said, “Most successful people are usually just “hungrier and thirstier.” What we desire, they pursue.

Napoleon was born in abject poverty. In school his friends made fun of him. But he devoted himself to his books and excelled in his studies. Eventually he became the brightest student in the school. Before he was through he conquered most of the civilized world. If a seedling tree has to fight its way up through stones and hard soil to get to sunlight and air, then wrestle with the storm and the frost to survive, its root system will be strong and its timber valuable.

Here is an important lesson: Its impossible to succeed without going through adversity. If you’re successful and haven’t experienced adversity, you can be sure that someone else has experienced it for you. If you’re experiencing it without succeeding, there’s a good chance somebody else will succeed one day because of you. Either way, there’s no success without adversity.

Dr. G. Campbell Morgan told of a man whose shop was burned down in the great Chicago fire. The next morning he arrived at the smoldering ruins carrying a table, set it up in the middle of the charred debris and put up a big sign which read, “Everything lost except wife, children and hope – Business will resume as usual tomorrow morning!”

The true test of character is – seeing what it takes to stop you!

Tags: adversity, persistence

This week we’re talking about persistence, that ability to stay the course and never give up. Calvin Coolidge was the thirtieth President of the United States. He had this to say about commitment:

“Press on: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful individuals with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Boy, if that isn’t the truth.

The reason the Iron Curtain came down was the Allies kept persistent pressure on the Warsaw Pact until they bankrupted themselves in the Cold War. The reason I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ is because Christians around kept persistent pressure on me in prayer. Lets be persistent!

Tags: commitment, Coolidge, persistence