Your affliction is an asset of great value
If your child was born with no ears, how would you respond?
I’m sure these thought were going through Napoleon Hill’s mind when his son, Blair, was born on November 11, 1912 in Fairmont, WV.
This is the same Napoleon Hill who wrote the classic, self-help book, Think and Grow Rich, in 1937.
Inspired by the words of his favorite poet, Napoleon responded that day by taking a deep and silent vow to help his son learn to hear and read.
And according to his own philosophy, all achievements are born with a burning desire for a specific outcome.
So he put together a plan that is outlined in the second chapter of his famous book.
This plan included:
- Renewing his daily pledge for Blair’s wholeness
- Bestowing his burning desire to his son Blair
- Not teaching sign language to Blair
- Mainstreaming Blair’s education
- Creating stories for Blair that helped him develop self-reliance, imagination
- Helping Blair understand that his affliction was not a liability, but an asset of great value
He taught Blair to pick up sound vibrations via “bone conduction.”
Blair taught himself to hear sound by clamping his teeth to the edge of the console of an old Victrola. You know, the old record player with the big horn on top.
He would also talk to Blair by placing his lips on the bones behind his hear as he spoke.
Through these lessons, Blair learned to hear and speak well enough to graduate high school and attend the University of West Virginia.
He had tried many hearing aids over the years, and never found one that helped. In his senior year in college, he tried one made especially for him by the Dictograph Products Corporation. It worked perfectly for Blair and he immediately telephoned his parents.
After college, Blair went to work for Dictograph and dedicated his life to helping others like him.
It’s amazing what we can do when we have true passion for something good.
Maybe you can be inspired by the same words Napoleon heard from his favorite poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, "The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We need only obey. There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right word.”
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