The only traces of a
life without impact is one who fails and never tries again.
Chase everything you
really want out of life or else your failures would chase you.
In chasing your God
given destiny, bad things may happen, but you’ve still got to keep chasing.
The prize of never giving up may not often be a Prize for a
well written literature or an appraisal for something won; the only prize could
be another well won failure. Despite those downward turns, never still give up
on what is important to you. The beauty of something great is when it goes
through toiling. The most important things you would ever have would take a lot
of time to acquire, hence you may be tempted to give up. But still you
shouldn’t. Put an extra effort and set new goals and plans you would get
through it.
Below are short stories of people who never gave up:
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss is referred to as the king of Denim. He is the
guy who invented the jeans we put on today. Levi was just an immigrant from
Bavarian who determinedly decided to make a living in America after moving from
Germany to New York. Levi had two brothers named Jonas and Louis who were
settled and later established their own wholesale dry goods company in New
York. This inspired Levi to try out the dry goods business and he started
learning what the business entails. In the light of the Gold Rush in
California, he decided to move towards the west. This is when he started his
own dry goods company. Through his company, he imported dry goods and sold them
to small stores in California and throughout other towns.
In 1873, Levi became the owner of a patent alongside Jacob
Davis. Jacob was a tailor who started making pants for working men-with metal
rivets in places subject to stress, such as the corners of each pocket and the
base of the fly. Because he could not afford to patents the pants alone, he
solicited Levi’s help in paying for the paper work and suggested that they own
the patent together. On May 20, 1873, the two received their patent for what
they called ‘the waist overalls’, now known as the ‘Blue Jeans’.
Over the years, Levi’s business continued to expand
remarkably and he wasn’t just referred to as a hardworking man but also as a
kind hearted philanthropist who contributed large sums of money to local
charities and in 1897, he funded twenty-eight scholarships to the university of
Berkeley. To become anything meaningful, you’ve got to persevere in doing the
things that brings you closer to where you intend to be. Things don’t just
happen except through faith and hard work.
WILLIAMS WILBERFORCE
Williams Wilberforce is one of the world’s best-known
champions of freedom and opponents of cruelty and injustice. He was the son of
a wealthy merchant and a graduate of camp bridge university. Williams became a
member of the parliament at 21yrs old. During this early age, he just enjoyed
representing his constituency in parliament but he wasn’t pursuing any cause at
this time. During the course of his life, he had an encounter with God that
aligned him into the service of God. He was then torn between becoming a full
time minister or a freedom fighter. Due to his passion for freedom fighting, he
decided to serve God beyond the walls of the church.
By 1787, Williams emerged
as parliaments dominant voice against the slave trade. At that time, he had
very few supporters because the wealth of the British empire depended on slave
labor and Britain led the world in taking slaves from Africa and shipping them
under horrific conditions to docks where they were sold like livestock to
plantation owners and then forced into manual labor and often treated terribly.
Williams made up his mind to face whatever challenge was
going to come his way. He said ‘Let the policy be what it might, let the
consequences be what they would, ‘I am from this time determined that I would
never rest until I have affected its abolition’. Great men are made in dire
situations. A man isn’t great until he has fought the battles that wants to
reduce him to nothing. Williams endured sickness, hardships, controversy and
betrayals from colleagues but that did not stop him. He tirelessly fought the
storms as there arrived. He presented his bill for the abolition of slave trade
eighteen times before it finally passed.
In 1807, Williams finally saw the goal for which he had
labored, sacrificed and endured criticism accomplished. Wilberforce died in
1833, knowing the end of slavery was imminent. One month after his death, the
law abolishing slavery was enacted.
You may not have a calling such as the one Wilberforce had
but you can serve God wherever you are and however you can. We were designed
with different purposes in mind and can only become great in what God has
called us to do individually. Identify what you have been called to do and grow
into all that God wants you to become.
OSCEOLA MCCARTHY
McCarthy was a woman who refused to give up on her dreams of
helping others receive a benefit she never had. Much of life revolves around
our ability to help someone else become better. The world may define greatness
in terms of wealth, prosperity and affluence but Christ judgement of greatness
is in one’s ability to serve others.
McCarthy was born in Mississippi in 1908 to a single mother.
Her mother had to work long hours to meet the needs of young Osceola and
herself; Osceola then began working at a young age and saved money she earned
by ironing after school. Osceola had already decided she wanted money to help care
for her grandmother in her old age, she also helped one of her aunts who had no
children and was unable to walk after a long stay in the hospital. By the time
her aunt improved enough for the young Osceola to go back to school, her
classmates had gone beyond her so she decided not to go back to school.
So she started off a career in washing and
ironing. As the years passed, she saved up all the monies she got from her
business. She saved so much and decided not to buy a car, and didn’t stay in an
air-conditioned room. As her savings grew significantly, her bankers encouraged
her to let her money work for her, suggesting ways it would earn more interest
than it did in savings account. She took their advice and her balances
increased significantly.
Osceola’s hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is also home
to one of the state’s universities- the university of Southern Mississippi. At
one point, the school did not admit black students. By the time she was older
they did- the woman with only a sixth grade education wanted to use her money
to give deserving African American students in financial need the opportunity
to receive a college degree. So in 1995, she donated $150,000 to the university
and established to McCarthy scholarship. She said ‘I can’t do everything but I
can do something to help somebody’.
You can turn adversity to something profitable as Osceola
did. You can also turn a certain kind of Mystery into a great ministry.
Nothing ever comes to pull you down, it comes to increase your value and
strength.
In life you would meet a lot of setbacks and people who would
live you but you’ve got to be very strong to keep moving. There would be
sometimes that sickness and pain may decide to stand in your way, yet you can’t
allow it define who you are and what you become. A great future awaits you if
you’re resolute in developing your potentials and your gifts. God has given
everyone gifts according to their abilities, when you develop them you become a
star. In working on your gifts so many things may stand in your way like
frustrations, disappointments and loss. All these things may look very tough,
never mind them because it helps you develop tense muscles against pressure.
Remember that giving up
is a tale of fools.
References
Never give up by Joyce Meyer
