Many years ago a young lady who was attending a seminar shared an interesting story with me. Apparently she and two or three of her girlfriends went and tried out for a place in a stage play. She got the starring role while her girlfriends were not even picked for the supporting cast. Opening night she said she was really excited but afterwards became very disappointed when her girlfriends never came out and supported her. She was explaining the situation to an elderly friend of her fathers named Hap. He wrote her a letter and she gave me a copy with her permission to share it with others.
Read it carefully and think.
Dear Ann,
Once upon a time there was a fellow by the name of Al Capp who wrote a comic strip called "L'll Abner." Many years ago he had some characters in his strip who lived in a town near Dogpatch. They were the town bums, the n'er do wells, the failures whose whole aim in life was to pass judgment on others. Their criticism and ridicule became so vehement that in time the rest of the people in the town became acutely conscious of it. "The boys down at the stable," as they were called because that's where they spent most of their time, soon set the social standards of the town. Nobody could do anything without their sanction.
Because they lived within the structure of their crummy little world, they would laugh and point their fingers at anyone and everyone who tried to be better than they were. As a result the people feared the ridicule of the boys down at the stable so much that they stopped trying. Soon everybody became bums and the town died.
In every social structure, Ann, whether it be family, town, county or state, there are "The boys down at the stable." They are the jealous ones. They are too scared to try something different. They show their ignorance by laughing at those who do. Learn to recognize them Ann, for what they are. Don't let them hurt you. It takes a certain amount of toughness to succeed. One has to rise above those who would tear you down so that they can laugh and say, "I told you so!"
There are too many of us who love you and want you to make it. I could put myself at the top of the list. You aren't going to fall flat on your face as they would have you. You are going to do a superb job. Remember this show is only a small step in the direction of greater things you will do, many of which are beyond your wildest dreams. All you have to do is want to. One of the things I like about you best is that you always give it hell for try.
The show will be a success because of you and others like you who try. There are only winners in the cast. The losers are gathered down at the stable laughing and hoping for your failure. If we could dig down deep inside them, I'm sure we'd find they want to win also, but are too scared to try, and they attempt to cover up their own failures as human beings by laughing at others. In a sense I'm sorry for them. Their guilt must make them very unhappy people.
Much love, Hap
Source: From the files of Bob Proctor...
This is where so many of us find ourselves today… not willing to fight "The boys down at the stable", too afraid or lazy to try, and not even willing to support those who are fighting the good fight for us. Many of us are not even willing to listen to an alternative news source; read a book or two to inform ourselves of what is really going on and why; or even check out a blog or two by those who are putting themselves on the line in an era where Homeland Security and ‘big intrusive government’ labels anyone who has an alternative thought as a ‘right-wing extremist’.
If there was ever a time to dig deep… get informed, get involved and stand up for the beliefs and principles you believe in, grew up with and make our Country… the United States of America, the Country people die to get into… IT IS NOW!!!!!
You are not alone! There are grassroots movements springing up all over the Country and people are writing; speaking up; talking about their fears and what is important to them, one-on-one and in groups; and peaceably taking to the streets: Tea Parties, Tax Revolts, Protests for Traditional American Beliefs and Rights as written in the Constitution.
Now is the time for all Americans to stand up and step out of our comfort zones!
As Ronald Reagan said, “Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. And, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
What will you say when your children and grandchildren ask you where you were when American Democracy died and when the crippling debt they inherited from our generation was allowed to be amassed; when the once super power, America, died like the small town near Dogpatch... where everyone gave in and then gave up. - Ask Marion/Marion Algier~
Posted: Daily Thought Pad
