I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my ship.
The power of imagination I used to destroy my thinking is the same power I will use to correct my thinking. People who inspire me in this process are:
Harriet Tubman. She was born into slavery but was able to escape and made about 13 missions to rescue about 70 enslaved people using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream in the 60’s that all inhabitants of the United States would be judged by their personal qualities and not by the color of their skin. Today, not only are black and white children playing together, so are Chinese, Indian, African, Hispanic and others.
Henry Ford. He dreamed about horseless carriages and in his farm shop he completed in 1892 his first motor car, powered by a two cylinder four horsepower motor. Ford vehicles are all over the world today.
Thomas Edison failed over a thousand times but he never quit. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording and motion pictures.
The Wright brothers dreamed of inventing, building and flying the world’s first successful motor-operated airplane.
Although Marconi was not so much a man of science but rather an enthusiastic amateur, he managed to find many more practical applications that renowned scientific researchers. He is known for his creation of a practical radio wave based wireless telegraph system.
In 1942, Victor Frankl was, together with his family, sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and in 1944 to Auschwitz. He spent 3 years in 4 different concentration camps. In 1946 Victor Frankl wrote the book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’, describing his experiences as a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positive about and then imagining that outcome. In 1992 the book was listed as one of the ten most influential books in the U.S.
Charles Dickens lived in poor circumstances but still found the wherewithal to write. He created some of the world’s best known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
In prison I found my grit, my gift which also taught me humility. This place aided me in realizing my wildest imagination as a writer.
Derrick L. Griffin, 5-11-2021
