When Surendra was a young boy in school, he learned a lesson in
self-confidence.
One day, his teacher called him to recite a poem in front of the
class. He had hardly begun when the teacher interrupted with a
“No!” He started over and again the teacher shouted, “No!”
Ashamed, he sat down.
The next boy rose to recite and had just begun when the teacher
shouted, “No!” This student, however, kept on going until he
completed it. As he sat down, the teacher replied, “Very good!”
Surendra was irritated. “I recited just as he did,” he complained to
the teacher.
The teacher replied, “It is not enough to know your lesson, you must
be sure. When you allowed me to stop you, it meant that you were
not sure. If the world says, ‘No!’ it is our business to say, ‘Yes!’ and
prove it.”
The world will say, ‘No!’ in a thousand ways.
‘No! You can’t do that.’
‘No! You are wrong.’
‘No! You are incapable
‘No! You are too young.’
‘No! You are too weak.’
‘No! It will never work.’
‘No! You don’t have the education.’
‘No! You don’t have the background.’
‘No! You don’t have the money.’
‘No! It can’t be done.’
And each ‘No!’ we hear can reduce our confidence bit by bit until we
quit completely. Though the world says, ‘No!’ to us today, we should
be determined to say, ‘Yes!’ and prove it! ”
Let the whole world say, “No, you can’t!” If we believe in ourselves
and say, “Yes I can!” and do it, success will be ours!
