I Believe in You!

Hello, my name is Ragnar, and I believe in you. That's right; even if you do not believe in yourself, I believe in you. You may think that you can not, and if you believe this way you are correct. If you believe that you can, then you are also correct. One is only beaten, when they stop trying to win. But hear me now and believe me, for what I say is true;you are a winner, and I can prove it to you.
Many people in this country do not believe in you. They will say that you are unfortunate, unlucky, that you haven't won life's lottery, that you are disadvantaged, that you do not have an equal opportunity. They do not believe in you, and they think you can not win, but they are wrong. They would say that you need special treatment because of the way you look, or the place that you are from, or the economic conditions that you are raised in, but once again they are wrong. How can I be so cocky and sure of myself in my belief in you? Because history and precedence says that I am right, and they are wrong.
One of the greatest winners ever was Abraham Lincoln, yet his life was wrought with strife and hardships. A quick list scoured off the internet goes like this:1831 – Failed in business,1832 – Defeated for legislature,1833 – Again failed in business,1834 – Elected to legislature,1835 – Sweetheart died,1836 – Had a nervous breakdown,1838 – Defeated for speaker,1840 – Defeated for elector,1843 – Defeated for Congress,1846 – Elected for Congress,1848 – Defeated for Congress,1855 – Defeated for Senate,1856 – Defeated for Vice-President,1858 – Defeated for Senate,1860 – ELECTED PRESIDENT
Am I saying that you are as good of a person as Abraham Lincoln? No but I believe you have the potential to be better than Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe wasn't born into wealth, and he could have bean beaten along the way, but he was not beaten, because he never quit. How in the heck could a man born into relative poverty, who failed much more than he succeeded wind up being one of the greatest Presidents according to some, ever? Did he get some special treatment because he was poor, and get into college free?, Was there some sort of underprivileged loans for people to start a business? Did he receive food stamps to feed himself? Did he have housing provided for him? Was his medical bills paid for him? Nope. Abe just decided not to die, but to live, and he made it happen. And so can you. You may say, "oh but this was a long time ago, and times were not as hard then.", but you would be wrong. If you believe that you can do something , then you can. Your own self-limiting beliefs are the only thing that is stopping you.
Beware those who say that you need "help" to achieve your goals. Their form of help will defeat you and your purpose. For everything that is handed to you, a piece of your "self" is lost. Soon you need more "help" then after that you may stop trying to do anything at all for yourself, and are entirely dependent on their "help." Their "help" is what is keeping you down, making you dependent, which is what they strive for. They satisfy their own selfish needs by giving you "help".Some people have good intentions. They actually believe that they are helping you, and that you need the help. They do not want to oppress you , but they do not believe in you. They prejudge you. They would call you unequal, and underprivileged, but I don't because I see your true potential. Still not convinced? Well take the story of a young African-American man, who had grown up in poorness, into a family in which the father, "his only answer to everything was to beat it out of you.", whilst being sexually molested and abused. He dropped out of high-school, and was failing at life, but he kept on doing what he loved, which was writing. He had learned from watching another "self-made" person's show, that writing could be very therapeutic. He wrote plays that bombed, and was homeless in Atlanta, but he didn't give up. He kept writing, and believing in himself. Now whenever he has a new movie out, they put his name above the title. He's not homeless anymore,his name is Tyler Perry, and nobody gave him "help". I believe you can be bigger than Tyler Perry or Oprah( the person whom Perry had watched).
So why do these other people believe that you cannot win, when there are countless examples of those with less than you, with more "disadvantages" than you, who through their own self determination have won? I believe they fall into 2 categories. Category 1 are those that have given up on themselves. They listened and believed the people that told them that they did not have the same opportunities, or that they could not win without "help". Category 2 would be those that think they are better than you. They have won, some by themselves, but more likely they look at themselves as lucky. Maybe they were lucky, but either way they look at you and they feel pity, and condescension. Some may feel guilty about what they have achieved because they know that they have received this "help" themselves. And hey, If I couldn't do it myself, then surely you can not, which comes back to their view that they are superior to you. They will trot out examples of those they feel have had "bad luck" and ignore the decisions that these "unlucky" people made that lead them to where they are. Think of it as a child. These are people that would let a child win a game of chess, to make the child feel better, but what does the child learn? They have a sense of accomplishment for nothing. Achievement was unearned, but the lesson was learned, even if it was learned unwittingly. These folks are not on your side. They do not believe in you. On the contrary, they feel that you are weak, and that you can not win without their help, which they use to make themselves feel more important. They use what they see as your weakness, to make themselves stronger. They will keep telling you these lies, over and over, until the lies are not lies to you or them, but instead are now true. Their belief that you can not succeed, invades your belief , until that belief becomes reality. There is a sub-section of Category 2 folks which is truly evil, and this would be people that know the truth; that you can succeed without their help, but they want to control you. They feel that they are superior to you, but if they just make you dependent upon them, they can always control you. This is truly evil, and is no different than an abusive spouse that can't leave because they are so dependent and the abuse is the only thing they know. How sad that so many of you have been trapped by this, but you can escape. It is harder for you, and although we have all been created equal, this does not mean that all of our struggles to be successful will be equal.
So am I telling you to shun all help? No, but I want you to understand that the less you do for yourself, and the more you depend on others, the less you will gain for your "self". Do I believe that you can not form a team of people to help you? Absolutely not. I believe in teams and co-operation. Understand when you delegate authority, and when you are working for someone else that you are still working for yourself. Always know that you are "self" employed. You work, and you are paid for your work, and if you deliver results you will be paid more, if you do not deliver results you will be paid less, and if you do not deliver for enough time you will be without a job. You contribute to the whole company, but you are still an individual. You work hard to contribute so that the company will succeed, and therefor succeed yourself. But it is your responsibility to make the correct decisions as to your employment. If you work for a company that is not run well, you need to look out for yourself, and find a company that is. If your industry is changing or being eliminated by overseas competition, then you must educate yourself to be prepared for change. YOU are responsible for YOU! Those that sit around waiting for people to hand them new opportunities are destined for failure, because the winners go get the opportunities wherever they are. You are that winner! I believe in you. There is nothing special about you that is not inside you right now. Its all there waiting for you to understand it and develop it. You are special because you are you, and for no other reason. Nobody else can make you special or make you less than special. Your own power is infinite, and your own ability to win is limited by only you. You only lose when you let others decide for you about what your limits are. I want to say, "You can do it", but that will be putting my own beliefs on you, so I will instead close by saying that if you think you can do it, I believe you are correct.