UpClose & Personal - Lynda Solien-Wolfe

"We are all capable of starting out in a positive frame of mind. But to be able to sustain that through failure upon failure…that is the true measure of a positive attitude.", says Pat Croce author of "I Feel Great and you will too!", and President of the Philadelphia 76ers NBA Basketball Team.

One of my highlights in 2000 for me was being invited to be a part of the on-site chair massages therapy services offered at the Republican National Convention (RNC). Coordinating this event was a true positive go-getter, nothing stops her, massage therapist, mother of three and entrepreneur: Monique Frost, owner of Compass Massage and Bodywork in Ocean City, New Jersey. Monique had the vision and positive attitude to get massage included in the RNC festivities for the first time. As Golden Ratio Woodworks’ Public Relations Director, I flew to Philadelphia to be apart of this once in a life time opportunity.

When I boarded the flight to Philly last July, I did not know Monique or anyone in Philadelphia for that matter. The hotel had lost my reservation in a sold-out town. But to me, this was a great opportunity and with a leap of faith and with my positive, enthusiastic attitude at the time, it became a memory to last forever.

At the Pennsylvania Convention Center, adjacent to the massage area where I was standing, were the hundreds of RNC volunteers that were getting a pep talk from Pat Croce. Pat was the Philly 2000 Volunteer Chairman, is a physical therapist, and is President of the NBA Philadelphia 76ers. Pat was prepping the volunteers before their activities. He told them enthusiastically to meet and greet everyone so that each individual felt like a rock star! He went on to tell the crowd to "take a piece of this experience and put it in your pocket to take home so you will have it for a lifetime."
Lynda and Pat Croce

Until I got to Philly that week, I had never heard of the man. I listened to him rev up the crowd and get them pumped before they went out to welcome the RNC delegates. It was very inspirational and he had each person leaving in a positive state of mind. Then, Pat took the time to say thank you and to pose with the entire massage therapy crew who were on hand to massage the volunteers. He signed all of the ten massage chairs that were donated by Golden Ratio for the event and later received a massage himself. I forgot about my inspirational, motivational encounter with Pat Croce till I saw him smiling at me from the cover of his best-selling book, I Feel Great and You Will Too. I was in the self-help section looking for a book to help get me through another one of those bumps in the road on the highway of life and there was Pat to help get me over it! One of my secrets to staying positive: The self-help section of Barnes and Nobles.

Lynda, Pat and teem

Have you ever heard of Theodore Geisel? I have heard this story before reading it again in Pat Croce’s book. This is one of my motivational role model stories that ranks as noteworthy and meaningful to share:

"His name was Theodore S. Geisel and he had a fertile imagination, with a special gift for inventing words, putting them to rhyme, and creating the most captivating kinds of creatures. Armed with his first book, which was ostensibly written for children but which actually possessed an ageless appeal, and brimming with high hope, he knocked expectantly on the door of a publishing house.

His manuscript was rejected. He went to another publisher. And was rejected. He went to a third publisher. And was rejected again.

Number 4 said no. Number 5 said no. Number 6 said no. Number 7 said no. Number 8 said no. Number 9 said no. Number 10 said no. Number 11 said no. Number 12 said no. Number 13 said no. Number 14 said no. Number 15 said no. Number 16 said no. Number 17 said no. Number 18 said no. Number 19 said no. Number 20 said no. Number 21 said no. Number 22 said no.

Would you have given up? After the fourth rejection? Or would you have persisted through ten rejections and then quit? Would you have knocked on the fifteen different doors before surrendering?

Would you, like Theodore S. Geisel, have gone on to Number 23, and, hearing yet another rejection, then said, "That's it, I'm done"?

Well, you would have really been sorry then. But not nearly as sorry as the first 23 publishers who rejected him. Because he kept on. He went to Number 24. Who said "YessssSSSS!" That sweet sound that the salesperson in all of us craves. "YesssSSSS!"

And number 24 went on to publish six million copies of the first book written by Theodore S. Geisel, whose pen name was….Dr. Seuss! The author of Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat. Do these ring a bell? He went on to write more than fifty books that have sold more than 200 million copies, and which are still selling to this day in seventeen different languages.

His story is the epitome of being positive, and even more important, of staying positive. We are all capable of starting out in a positive frame of mind. But to be able to sustain that through failure upon failure, and defeat, after defeat—23 rejections—that is the true measure of a positive attitude."*

Remember we may be disappointed if we fail, but we are doomed if we do not try. When I hear bad news I always try to remember something my Mom shared with me when I was growing up: The good news is that the bad news can be turned into good news with the right attitude!

I recommended we all take the time to do what you need to change our attitude to keep up with a positive out look in life. With all that said, for your summer reading I highly recommend his book:

*I Feel Great and You Will Too!: An Inspiring Journey of Success with Practical Tips on how to Score Big in Life. Pat Croce with Bill Lyon, Foreword by Bill Cosby (Hardcover, 256 pages, ISBN: 0762408073, Published by Running Press Book Publishers, September 2000.)

I would like to end with a sign that hangs in the Children's Home in Calcutta, India, founded by Mother Theresa:

Words To Live By:

Sometimes, people are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
LOVE THEM ANYWAY.

Often, if you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. DO GOOD ANYWAY.

There is a risk that if you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. SUCCEED ANYWAY.

There is always the possibility that the good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. DO GOOD ANYWAY.

People will remind you that honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY.

There is a chance that what you spent years building may be destroyed overnight. BUILD ANYWAY.”

Remember: “A bend in the road is not the end of the road if you remember to take the turn!”

See you in the field,
Lynda

Contact Lynda at GoldenRatioPR@aol.com