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A Story Of DETERMINATION - The Brooklyn Bridge

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.


Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.


Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.


The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.


"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."


Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.


He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.


It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.


He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.


For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.


Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.


Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realized with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.


Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.


SOURCE: Inspiring Stories

Motivational Videos

49 Ways to Improve Your Life Today

1. Radiate Joy

Smile at everyone—yourself in the mirror, your boss, your family, strangers, co-workers, the clerk at the store.  Smile, just because. Smiling creates friendship, acceptance, understanding, and it’s more fun! (Kalama Hochreiter )

2. Take a Risk

Do something outside your comfort zone. Whether it’s talking to someone outside your social circle at a party when you’re shy, offering to help someone with a project that will require learning new skills at work, or trying a new ethnic restaurant instead of the usual Pie ‘n Burger, you’ll expand your horizons and, with them, your ideas about who you are and what you can do.  (Liz Pruyn)... READ MORE

Soichiro Honda: A Story Of Persistence

“Success is 99 percent failure.” - Soichiro Honda

The life of Soichiro Honda is often quoted as an inspiring story of a man who overcame unbelievable obstacles and went on to achieve great success. The story of Soichiro Honda is an inspirational tale of motivation and persistence in the face of adversity. His story serves as an important lesson for all of us and it teaches us not to give up when we suffer a setback. Despite suffering failure, ridicule and endless financial difficulties, Honda believed strongly enough in himself to make his success a reality.

Soichiro Honda was born in 1906 and he grew up helping his father repair bicycles in the small town of Komyo in Japan. While Soichiro Honda was in school he started a workshop with the intention of developing a piston ring which he planned to sell on to Toyota. He spent day and night working away in his workshop believing that he could produce the perfect design. He struggled financially during this period, even selling his wife’s jewelry for capital and occasionally slept in his workshop.

When he finally completed his finished piston ring, Soichiro took his design to Toyota who told him that his work was not up to their standards. After suffering this terrible setback, Soichiro was forced to go back to school and was taunted by those around him for failing. Other engineers laughed at his design but Soichiro refused to give up despite being ridiculed by those around him. Soichiro Honda paid little attention to school work that did not relate to his business and, when verbally attacked by his teacher, Honda responded that ‘A ticket will get you a seat in a movie theater, but a diploma won’t get you a job!’.

Soichiro believe strongly in his idea and refused to give up on his dream. He struggled on for two more years before finally gaining a contract with Toyota. By this time Japan was gearing up for war and Honda found it hard to find the building materials he needed to create a factory to produce his work. Despite this potentially disastrous set back, Honda persisted and found a new way of making concrete which allowed him to finish building the factory he needed.

Sadly this was not the end of Soichiro’s troubles as the factory he had struggled so hard to build was bombed twice during the war and steel became unavailable. Whilst most people would have given up at this point, Honda persisted and found a way to get past these obstacles. He started collecting gasoline cans which had been discarded by US fighters to help regenerate his factory, objects he described as “gifts from President Truman”. When Honda started rebuilding his factory an earthquake finally destroyed it. This setback would have spelled the end for most people but Honda carried on chasing his dream.

After the war, Honda found a way of attaching a small engine onto his bicycle and quickly found that other people were interested in his strange new idea. Sadly the materials Honda needed were not available to supply the demand for his new creation. Rather than give up, Honda dug deep and sought out a way to get the finance he needed to continue with his project.

He wrote an inspiring letter to 18,000 bicycle shop owners which asked them to help him revitalize Japan through innovation. A huge number of the shop owners he wrote to responded by giving Honda what little money they could to help him. Soichiro battled away with several redesigns before finally producing the ‘Super Cub’ which became an overnight success. By 1963, Honda was the top-selling brand of motorcycles in the United States.

Honda Corporation now employs more than 100,000 people in the USA and Japan and it is now second only to Toyota in Japan. Honda succeeded because of the passion and determination of one man who was committed to his ideas and making them a success. Despite suffering more failures and set backs than most of us will see in a lifetime, Honda persisted and never once allowed himself to give up on his dreams.

SOURCE: FAMOUS AND RICH