Greatness: The Dark Side – Rule.2: Walk by Faith

Greatness: The dark side –Rule.2: Walk by Faith

 Faith is defined as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” You have likely encountered this phenomenon in your own life when you attend religious services. You might also have to muster faith when you are faced with a task that seems impossible to do. You have to trust and love who you are if you want to achieve success. You likely spend time picking apart your flaws instead of thinking about your good qualities. But you deserve better, and so does your soul. Would you ever tell your mother or your best friend that he or she “can’t do it” or “isn’t smart enough?”  Of course, not, so have some faith in yourself. Give yourself the chance to try everything and “mess up” at it if needed. Making mistakes is okay! Getting out of your comfort zone is the first step to making those goals come true, even if they are small. The way to do that is to have faith in yourself. If you want to learn ways to have faith in yourself and your abilities for success, why not learn from these masters?

Stephen King

“Life is like a wheel. Sooner or later, it always comes around to where you started again.” – Stephen King.

Stephen E. King is an American author, most known for his horror novels that have captivated readers for decades.  He has written 58 books in total and numerous short stories. King has collected dozens of rewards for his excellent writing efforts. He is known as the “King of Horror” by his fans and the literary community alike. However, King had much reason to have little faith. His father left him at age two, telling his family he was going to buy cigarettes. King was raised as a Methodist but no longer considers himself to be religious. He does, however, believe in the existence of a God. King also had the unfortunate experience of seeing one of his friends get hit and killed by an oncoming train. He appears to have blocked out the memory of the ordeal, his family telling him of the extreme shock that he returned to their home. Some suggest this may have contributed to the nature of King’s work. King sold his first short story, “The Glass Floor,” to a publication entitled Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. It is now on record in the Fogler Library in Maine, where many of King’s papers are kept. King started humbly like many of our favorite authors and celebrities. He earned a certificate to teach high school but supplemented his income by selling short stories to men’s publications, which came in handy when he encountered various financial bumps on the road.

For instance, King was once fined $250 for driving over a traffic cone. He cashed his cheques earned from writing a short story and then paid the fine immediately. King was and still is a talented author. Unfortunately, his faith would be tested when he developed a drinking problem that would last for over a decade. In the meantime, his first novel, Carrie, would become accepted by Doubleday publishers – but not before he lost faith in himself and had thrown the draft of the famous book into the trash. His wife still has faith in him, and she picked it out of the garbage and told him to finish it. This is an example of King having confidence in his ability as a writer to execute the story we know and love today. King’s faith would further be tested when his mother’s health began to fail, and his family moved to southern Maine. He started writing what would be known as Salem’s Lot, and his mother sadly passed in 1974. He was drunk while delivering the eulogy at his mother’s memorial service. King would battle his drug and alcohol addiction and become sober in the late 1980s. He describes being unable to remember writing “Cujo”; the habit was so severe. Having faith in his abilities as a writer, his ability to heal from addiction, and the ability to change with the times as a creative person would be critical to his success. King’s faith would help him overcome what ailed him. His success only grew after the fact.

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” – Stephen King.

The immense task of overcoming addiction to the substances King was addicted to cocaine, Xanax, NyQuil, and marijuana, among others, takes plenty of patience, professional help, willpower, and of course, faith that a person can do it. King has been sober since the 1980s, so faith mixed with other elements of hard work has paid off. If you or a loved one has ever attempted to publish a book, you will find out that you will be rejected numerous times before your work sees the light of the day. It is very easy for aspiring authors to lose faith in their ability to succeed. However, King never gave up. His persistence paid off, and he is now one of the world’s most loved authors. His works have sold more than 350 million copies. Indeed, Stephen King is a man of strong conviction and faith in himself. Without this uncompromising attitude, the world may have never known the joy and simultaneous horror of a great King novel. Another master of faith who had a bumpy life in its early beginning. However, this was his fuel to continue and to reach towards unlimited horizons.

Tony Robbins 

Tony is a beloved example by many and is considered a great American success story.  From a janitor to a Billionaire, Tony knew what it took. “If you believe you are right, or you believe you are wrong, you’re right. Whenever you are certain about it, you will support it. Remember that.” – Tony Robbins.

Born Anthony J. Mahavorick on Feb 29, 1960, Tony Robbins is well known around America as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, life coach, and of course, motivational speaker. He has appeared on television several times, promoting his seminars, self-help books, and more. His two best-known works are “Unlimited Power” and “Awaken the Giant Within.” “Unlimited Power” is a book that has YOU, the reader, using your faith in yourself to become the most powerful you’ve ever been. Aside from being a beloved author and speaker, he is the president of companies that earn about $6 Billion in sales annually. He has been listed on the Power 100 list of Worth Magazine two years in a row. But, like many people who wanted to be great, there were roadblocks on their way. His first hurdle would come at age 7 when his parents divorced and his mother remarried – multiple times. This, no doubt, placed much stress on Tony and his brothers and sisters. Tony was the oldest of all three of them. Aside from being the oldest sibling, which carries the responsibility of its own, Tony worked as a handyman growing up to bring in extra money for his siblings. He would undergo a very interesting young adulthood, growing ten inches alone in high school thanks to a pituitary tumor, and enduring what he referred to as a “chaotic” and “abusive” home life. He left home at the age of seventeen and never looked back. His faith was steadfast that he would succeed.

Tony began working as a janitor and did not go on to pursue formal education. He began his career in motivational speaking by working under Jim Rohn at the age of 17, promoting his speeches. How did Tony‘s faith pay off? How did he become so beloved and successful? “I’ve come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.” – Tony Robbins.

Tony Robbins‘ strong faith in the power of humans is the guiding light behind his work, which has made him a successful man. Take, for instance, his book “Unlimited Power.” In summary, it discusses the following ideas about the human brain: – “Unlimited Power” is the ability to get the results you want and create a good environment for others while you do it. – Action is what drives every great success. – Nothing has meaning unless we give it meaning. These claims can be perceived as rather preposterous, but Tony demonstrated faith in his ideas, which led to the book becoming a bestseller. Tony believes that six character traits will give you all you need to succeed: Belief, Strategy, Clarity of Values, Bonding Power, Passion, and Mastery of Communication. The book shows readers how you can cultivate these techniques and use them to your advantage, leading to great success. Tony‘s great faith in himself and his ability to succeed has led to several great philanthropic organizations being created. For example, The Anthony Robbins Foundation seeks to help the homeless, hungry, youths, prisoners, and elderly and disabled citizens. In perhaps their most fantastic show of faith, 100 low-income students were sent to medical school due to the Foundation’s ROC’ n Robbins Challenge Event. Bob Carr, former Premier of New South Wales and leader of the Give Something Back Foundations, worked with Tony Robbins to make it happen and send those students to fulfill their dream. Robbins and Carr had faith in the students to become doctors that would help the nation and pledged a total of $2 million to show it and send the students to complete their schooling.

Nelson Mandela

Mandela is another man responsible for success, and only, in this case, it is half a world away in South Africa. His faith would carry him through a jail sentence and into the history books.

“There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” – Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political figurehead, and philanthropist. He was the president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Many people admire

Mandela, for his efforts for dismantling apartheid, which was a system of racial segregation that gave special privileges to “White” people.

He served a large portion of his life in prison for his protests against such a biased system but became a beloved historical figure for his people.

He was born to humble beginnings in 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa.  The name “Nelson” came from a teacher at his school. He would go on to attend the College of Fort Hare as well as the University of Witwatersrand. There, he got his law degree and met up with people who would join him in the fight against apartheid.

Nelson Mandela became a leader in the ANC or African National Congress. He pushed hard for the protestors to be like Gandhi and follow a non-violent approach to getting what they wanted. He did plan to bomb buildings – but only buildings, avoiding hurting other people. This would be the test of his faith – he was classified as a terrorist by the government of South Africa and then sent to prison after the fact.

How did Nelson Mandela manage to keep the faith? The conditions were dire, but faith lit the way.

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” – Nelson Mandela.

Being in prison is a challenging experience for anybody, as it is a harsh place with violent criminals and non-violent ones alike. Nelson Mandela spent nearly 30 years in jail, which shows his supreme faith in his cause. He would not allow himself to bend on his anti-apartheid beliefs to gain freedom from prison. His conviction was so strong; he stated that he would die for his ideas. He wanted everyone to enjoy equal rights in the land of South Africa.

Nelson Mandela would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his activism efforts. Receiving the honor was, no doubt, restoration to his faith. Today, July 18 is celebrated as Nelson Mandela Day, in which people are asked to devote 67 minutes – one for each year Mandela served his country – to help others.