Starting from the beginning

Aurelian Victor Cotuna
Nov 3 · 3 min read

“I’d been rejected, but I was still in love, so I decided to start over.” ― Steve Jobs

Often when we fall, when everything fades away and our plans are no longer working, we feel sad, depressed and confused. Our true power lies in starting over again better, more prepared and more determined, learning from our previous mistakes.

The truth is that the path to a successful goal is filled with challenges. It is filled with sharp stones and always under construction. We get stronger when we walk that path and make it through.

Starting from the beginning

An old Scandinavian proverb says that…

“It is the great north wind that made the Vikings”

Photo by Jonatan Pie on Unsplash

When he was sixty-seven, Thomas Edison was working in his factory. It was a cold December night. At some point a shout of “Fire!” was heard. Spontaneous combustion had broken in Edison’s factory. Within moments, everything was burning.

Edison’s son was concerned... He managed to get everyone out but he could not find his father. Even if his father was still alive, with all his assets going up in flames, he thought, how will he recover? Will this break his spirit? Because Edison was sixty-seven, not an age to begin anew.

After few minutes, he saw Edison running toward him screaming “Where’s Mom?”. “Fast, go get her and also get her friends. They will never see a fire like this again!”. The son could not believe his ears. He was expecting that his father reaction to be different… “Oh, God, what did I do to deserve this?…”.

Edison’s son relates that at 5.30 in the next morning when the fire was under control, Thomas called his employees together and announced “We are rebuilding!”. Edison believed that you can always make capital out of disaster. He saw the fire as a way to clear out a bunch of old rubbish.

When we think about it, in that situation what should Edison have done? Burst our crying, gotten angry, quit and go home? That is what most people would, especially at his age. However, he chose to not waste time indulging himself. He was aware that in order to do great things, to make progress, he must be able to endure setbacks, and enjoy every minute and opportunity.

In a short time, the factory was back up and running, partially. Within a month, his employees were working two shifts a day, creating new products that the would had never seen.

Photo by Denys Argyriou on Unsplash

Our challenges might not be so serious, or costly, but they are significant for us. Some are totally out of our control. But we can get them with an open heart and with a smile on our face. Learning not to scream, kick and have a tantrum when we are dealing with obstacles out of our control is not easy. But acceptance is way better than rage.

Tomorrow is always a new day, a new story waiting to be written, so we should make it the best possible, without regret, rage and anger.

What was your last important project that failed?

How did you react when your work was gone?

Your turn

Through this article series called “Minutes Mindset,” I’m helping you build a solid mindset, writing my point of view on different subjects that we meet in our day by day life. I am a strong believer that once we can understand a subject, we can engage with the idea or refuse it altogether. Both ways are helping us grow and develop our own way of seeing the world.

If you like my work, clap on it, share it with your friends and follow me.

In the end, everything starts with us, with our mind, our self, and even our stories. We can choose to act or Not.

If your fitness trainer can help you get fit in the gym, I will help you get a fit Mindset. Let’s connect on Medium, Linkedin, Twitter and share some Ideas

Aurelian Victor Cotuna

Written by

#Mindset builder, high energy #IT #entrepreneur and #education disruptor. Daily mindset building project on Medium https://medium.com/@aurelianvictorcotun

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade