Let's ponder on some incidents that direct us to be positive in our outlook and perspective towards life.
Forget the past
When Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis was 12 years old, he expressed a desire for firecrackers and demanded money for the same from his mother. His mother, like any other good mother, did not succumb to his demand.
So, he thought of an alternate route. He utilised the meagre three cents in his pocket to purchase three newspapers, which he sold on the corner at some profit. By the end of the day, he had 9 cents. 71 years later, at the time of his death, his net worth was $43.2 billion today!
Cyrus H.K. Curtis was born in Portland at the corner of Brown Street and Cumberland Avenue 167 years ago. His father gave him the middle names Hermann Kotzschmar after a German music teacher who once lived with the family. Curtis started his publishing career at the age of 13 and later went on to become one of the richest publishers in the world.
However, from the start till the end, it was a very tough struggle. With the money he made by selling newspapers, he bought a hand-powered printing press. He kick-started his career by being a reporter, editor, and pressman. He came up with his own neighbourhood daily called 'Young America'. He also acted as his own debt collector, waking people at dawn to get his pending dues.
Unfortunately, he lost his press in the Great Fire of 1866 that burned the shed that was housing it. Deeply shaken and heartbroken, he mustered courage and decided to move forward.
The attitude of Cyrus Curtis is indeed admirable. He once owned the "Saturday Evening Post". He had a signboard hanging in his office that read- "Yesterday ended last night." It was a superb way of reminding himself and his employees, that past is over and we should be looking ahead and not back.
True! The past is a dead issue. If we keep dragging our past into tomorrow, it will hamper our progress from all aspects. In order to succeed, we need to move towards tomorrow with positivity and good momentum. And, for that, it is important to forget the past.
To withdraw other beautiful inspirations from the real life’s incidents, read the complete article in the Jan’18 edition of English Akhand Gyan Monthly Magazine.
