THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DEAD END!

Before beginning today’s Blog I want to bring my readers up to date on the story of young seven-year -old Amalia who I recently told you about. She has had surgery for her cancer and is about to go to Boston to a special radiation center to see if they can save her life. If you would like to help us raise the $300,000 needed to try to save her life, go to www.fundme.com---many. Many thanks.

Humor does not seem appropriate for today. Instead I repeat my Poem for her.

Pain and Suffering are not reserved Just for the Aging

Amalia is tiny, petite and ever so sweet

Just 7 years old and with a big smile did she us greet

As she laid quietly on the hospital bed

Gently resting her troubled spine and head

There was a dangerous growth eating away the bones in her body

Raising serious concern in the minds of her parents and everybody

That the life of this delicate loving child was in danger

And the community began in unity to say prayers for her

As we move through life there is one fact that is abundantly clear

That at times we must question why nature instills in us such pain and fear

But if we keep true to our faith we somehow gather the strength to grow through the storm

And with hope as our anchor return our life to its norm

I belong to an internet business discussion group. When I opened my computer this morning I found the following question on the site “What do you do when you have reached a dead end?” 

This reminded me of a situation that occurred when I was in my mid-teens. I had taken a job working for a major department store in Detroit. A few weeks after starting I was asked to attend a sales training program being conducted after hours in a storeroom of the facility.

The person conducting the session was a training consultant. He started the program by making the following statement, which has stuck with me all of these years: “If anyone in this room can look at a person who enters this store and know whether they will make a substantial purchase, we will pay you a million dollars to stand on the street and identify such individuals.”

This same principal holds true for all that we do in life. Each day the vast majority of human beings fail to recognize the wonderful opportunities they have for growth in their lives by allowing the fear of failure get in their way.

How many times a day does every one of us set our sights too low, and not understand that every time we communicate with another human being there is a friendship waiting to be formed, a business opportunity lost ... additional happiness to be achieved.

Every day I speak with middle and aging adults who tell me that they lost their mate and are living alone - with wonderful memories of the past. Life is not about the past - it is about today and tomorrow.

There is no such thing as a “Dead End”. When you are frustrated, and think you are faced with a dead-end, then move on and upward. Keep trying to achieve your goals and if you have done life right, when you leave this world your knowledge and spirit will remain to inspire others who you have met along the way and for whom you have set an example.

We were not born into this world to die. We were created to achieve greatness and live a valued life worthy of being remembered with pride. Only the weak fail, so look into the mirror and ask yourself, "Why I am here?"

Bernard ("Bernie") Otis is the author of the upcoming international bestseller, "How To Prepare For Old Age (If You Haven't Married Into A Wealthy Family)". If you have a question or comment, or a personal story about life and aging, please send me an email to seymour.otis@gmail.com

And, please be sure to support my friend Lorrie Caplan Shern's work. Information about her book and blog can be found at www.givingbirthtomyparents.com, and her wonderful songs can be found on www.soundcloud.com. Her phone is 720-652-6655.