Success

            Thomas Edison was a great man, no doubt one of the greatest of our time. He invented many things from the motion picture camera, to the phonograph to the light bulb. He has 1,093 US patents to his name and many others in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, making him one of the great inventors in the history of the world. To add to his credentials, he is credited with coming up with the idea of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses and factory buildings. He was very successful and enormously helped the world become what it is today. He is an inspiration to us all. However, what is even more inspiring is how he became this great man.

            Edison was born in the town of Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliot. In school young Edison was not very successful. His mind often wandered and never really stayed focused. After three months of official schooling he was done. However, Edison’s mother did not give up on the boy but had the greatest of faith in him and homeschooled him herself. Edison would later say of his mother, “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” Much of his schooling came from reading R.G. Parker’s School of Natural Philosophy and The Cooper Union. However, to add to his heartache in learning, Edison developed hearing problems at a young age due to a spell of scarlet fever and recurring untreated ear infections. However, Thomas Edison was strong willed and he did not let trials nor set backs keep him down. To add to his accomplishments mentioned earlier, he is also the founder of General Electric which is still in existence today.  He was not a genius nor was he the smartest kid in school. What set him apart from the rest was his attitude and outlook on life. He never gave up. He never gave in; and he did not fear failure but instead welcomed it.

Edison attempted over 10,000 different times to invent the light bulb. Right around attempt 9,000 he was asked by a reporter if he felt like a failure and if he was going to give up. Puzzled by this question, Edison responded, “Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.” When at first you don’t succeed do you look at the glass half empty or half full? Do you feel like a failure or do you respond like Tomas Edison and say, “Success is almost in my grasp.” Giving up is the only way to fail.