Entrepreneur Rising

I returned this evening from a trip with my father Lou, brother Tim, uncle Bobby and close friend Antonio from Italy.  This is my fourth time and without fail, I found myself on the flight home wrestling with what’s more amazing; the beauty and serenity of the landscape and architecture OR the fact that these people, mostly out of necessity created one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Check out a few of these photos and when you finish reading this post, it will all make sense.  Pay special attention to the photo’s of Venice (located on water).

On this trip like most I take, I brought my tattered copy of “As a man thinketh” by James Allen.  If you don’t own a copy, I strongly suggest you get one and if you plan on attending the entrepreneur rising workshops, then you might get a copy as a gift from me.  It may be one of the top 5 best books ever written.  There is also a version “As a woman thinketh” which is the same book; equally amazing and relevant.

In the book is a poem about persistence and the human will and while I am certain I have read it hundreds of times, it resonated more with me on this trip when I think about the history of the Venetian people and the incredible fact that their entire community is built on water off set from the Adriatic Sea.  They created what we know today as Venice in the 1400′s when there was no modern machinery, no computers and auto-cad drawings to help the sculptures create the exacting details and appointments that adorn the buildings.  They did it largely out of necessity to protect themselves and as far as I know, they had no one before them who modeled this great achievement, and of this I am certain, there was no “how to book” available for them in Home Depot.  It was first conceived in their mind, then in reality.  It may take a few readings but it’s remarkable.

You will be what you will to be;

Let failure find it’s false content

In that poor world, “environment”

But spirit scorns it, and is free

It masters time, it conquers space;

It cows that boastful trickster, chance

And bids the tyrant circumstance

Uncrown and fill a servant’s place.

The human will, that force unseen,

The offspring of a deathless soul

Can hew a way to any goal,

Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delay,

But wait as one who understands;

When spirit rises and commands,

The gods are ready to obey.