Guys, believe it or not I just spent 40 minutes writing this blog for the second time and my computer wiped it out… Forgive me but this one, this 3rd edition if you will, mayl be “briefer” than the previous two as I’m slightly disappointed but I will get this right…

I received all the messages from you all about the follow up for the last week before I checked to see that the first time I wrote this response to “8:59” never posted; I was quite surprised. So, I sat down an hour ago determined to write another version as good as the first… I had done so… and then pressed the “back” button by accident and the whole blog was gone…for the 2nd time… 🙁

I want everyone to know that I really do appreciate all the comments, notes, subscriptions and all that you say. I am quite humbled by it. I know some of you wonder when the next Tankism is coming and why it takes so long to get them to you sometimes. Well, you all have been sharing them with a lot of people so now I’ve got over 11,000 friends and I do my best to get one out to everyone. It just takes a little longer now for obvious reasons…

TANKJONES.
My personal website is almost completely renovated and when it is, I will be posting the Tankisms there more frequently so I’ll be sure to let you know. I’m also going to offer my last CD, Antithesis (an autographed copy) there along with a free poster. I’ve been asked by a lot of you to do that. I only have a couple hundred and will not be making any more of that CD so if you can’t wait until I make the announcement, shoot me a message about it. First come… 🙂

OK, here we go again for the third time…

A QUICK RECAP
I love to read. You will either catch me reading something inspirational, motivational, educational, spiritual or a script. I feel the need to balance the scales. I need to search out the positive side since there is so much negativity out there. If you don’t actively seek out the positive stuff you will find yourself behaving negatively for no other reason than that is what’s out there. Hey, most of us are addicted to the negative, the gossip, the car wreck on the side of the road. It sells ads so that’s why we get so much of it, because as much as people complain about it, they’re addicted to it.

One of my quotes is: “Now! That’s all you’ve got.” I try to make the most of each day because you never know. You’ve got this life, this Now, this moment. Take advantage of it as often as you can. Remind yourself to live life to the fullest. Even if you believe in reincarnation, you still have to take time away from your NOW to remember who you were, which wastes more NOW time so by the time you figure it out, you may have NO time. Now, what was I saying?

I consider myself a lot of things…QUITTER is definitely not one of them…then 8:59am PST on today, Friday, July 17th, 2009 happened…

I thought I understood what it meant and what you had to do to be a success…then 8:59am PST on today, Friday, July 17th, 2009 happened…

I was at the gym, working legs and as I was doing my reps I was listening to “Think and Grow Rich.” In the beginning of the book, Napoleon Hill writes about there being a “secret” contained in the book that, if he were to just point it out to you would rob you of the joy of finding it on your own. He also mentions that when it occurs to you, you should “turn down a glass for it will represent a turning point in your life.”

MY MAMMY’S GOTTA HAVE THAT 50 CENTS!
Napoleon writes of a story of a young “colored girl” who came to a farmer’s work area and asked him for 50 cents. This was back in the 1920s. Well, the farmer refused and told her to go away and the little girl replied, “Yessa.” But, SHE DID NOT MOVE.

The farmer went along doing his work, not noticing the child had not left. When he did notice that the girl had not left, he got angry and began to yell at the child. He told her to GO! or she would not like the consequences…Again, she replied, “Yessa.” But, SHE DID NOT MOVE!

The farmer became enraged and ran over to the girl. The farmer’s nephew that was in attendance thought for sure the child was about to receive a beating at the hands of his uncle. When the farmer reached the child, the child actually STEPPED FORWARD and yelled, “My mammy’s gotta have that 50 cents!”

…

This response stopped the farmer cold in his tracks…then…he reached in his pocket and pulled out the 50 cents and handed it to the girl. She thanked him and went along her way…

8:59 AM PST, FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2009 A.D.
I have read this story many times…
I have listened to it many times…
I truly thought I had the meaning of it many times…

I often found it amusing but it never had that much impact on me. Then, that day, that time I realized that I had just discovered what it means to THINK AND GROW RICH. If I had a glass, I would have turned it down to mark the occasion.

Picture the scene: early 1920s, a white male, a colored girl, his property, deep south. Doing what she did, she could have been hurt, beaten or killed and more than likely nothing would have been done about it.

How could I have missed the lesson of this story the previous times I had read it or listened to it? It is the most powerful story in the entire book! This girl had a mission. She KNEW WHAT SHE WANTED. She knew what she needed and had determined that she would stand by, no matter what until she got it.

She asked for 50 cents for her mom. “The man” said “No!” At that point, who would have blamed her for going home with her tail tucked between her legs so to speak and say, “Sorry, mama he wouldn’t give it to me.” That’s what 90% of the people in that position would have done; she did not.

When “the man” became angry because she did not leave, he felt disrespected and felt this child needed to learn her place. So, here he comes charging after her and about to teach her a lesson…Now, she was supposed to cower and run at that point, right? After all, she’s just a “colored girl” on the property of “the man,” a man who could harm her and no harm would befall him. This was a big OBSTACLE, a big MOUNTAIN, seemingly insurmountable.

But, what did she do? She took a STEP FORWARD! What did “the man,” the obstacle, the mountain do? It had no choice but to crumble, to fall, to realize it had been beaten at its own game. In other words, it had no choice but to give the girl what she was after, if she could stand up to that type of resistance without blinking and not only stand up, but STEP FORWARD “the man” had no choice. He was severely over-matched.

STEP FORWARD
When you are so convinced that you must have something that you are willing to STEP FORWARD, give it your all and stand by that decision until you succeed, you WILL SUCCEED. Life has no choice but to give you what you want because you would not let life push you around any longer. You told life that you will not run away any longer, you will not “Duck and Run” (3 Doors Down, love that song) any longer. You know that that there’s going to be turbulence, wind, rain, potholes, in-laws, naysayers…

But, if this little girl can stand by and get 50 cents after total rejection three times at the risk of physical harm…whew!

There is no obstacle that can stop you when you have that type of determination and I am ashamed that I let the prejudice of the language stop me from getting maybe the most important lesson I’ve ever learned, perhaps that’s why I had to type this three times and the words kept getting erased. Maybe that was the Lord’s way of making sure the lesson “really” sank in.

I have had life rain of my parade. I have had plans not work out. I have failed and I have walked away. I have been knocked down so hard that I felt paralyzed with FEAR. Now, I know that no matter what, I must GET UP. I must NOT BLINK. I must be determined. This story showed me that even I had another level to go up in my determination level.

Now, I know without a shadow of a doubt, that when “the man” comes charging at me with his nostrils flaring saying that you can’t have this part, you can’t have this money, you can’t have this house, you can’t live in this neighborhood, you can’t drive this car, you can’t buy this apartment complex, you can’t…

“Yessa!” And, I will smile and STEP FORWARD into my destiny…

How about you?