The Unbelievers

Have you ever come up with a new way of doing something and then shared it with a friend or colleague, only to have them tell you all the reasons why it wouldn’t work? Or worse still, why their way of doing things would work so much better for you if you were just smart enough to use it? Depending on how close this person is to you, it probably stung a bit, didn’t it?

I have come up against my share of this sort of thing and what I have come to realize is that most of us have developed our own ways of doing things that we’re very attached to. If they didn’t work for us, we probably wouldn’t keep doing them that way, right? (Well, not in all cases, but bear with me here.) Nothing wrong with doing what works, I always say.

But what if I got an idea that was my own unique spin on somebody else’s idea and — giving them full credit for the original one — I wanted to use it to assist even more people? You wouldn’t think the original inventor would have a hard time with that, would you? Well, sometimes they do. And when they do, you can either let it stop you or you can continue to follow your inspiration because you know in your heart of hearts that it’s a good idea. You know your heart. You know your intentions. And you know that, whatever the reason is, the inventor doesn’t get it and may never get it.

Some of us are really tempted to just chuck the whole thing out the window at that point. Some of us do. But I’ve noticed that the folks who are successful in every field of endeavor have all come up against those in authority who disagreed with them at some point in their careers, and those that we remember are remembered because they had the courage to work around those who didn’t understand or appreciate their views. I remind myself of Christopher Columbus, the Wright Brothers, Henry Ford and those brave souls like Copernicus and Galileo.

I include Galileo in the mix as well because, even though he eventually recanted his views and submitted to the power of the Church, you have to admire the man for even attempting to express his viewpoint at all in the face of the Inquisition. And not only that, he was creative about it. After all, “He that fights and runs away, may turn and fight another day; but he that is in battle slain, will never rise to fight again.” (Tacitus)

Actually, it occurs to me that when I encounter obstacles — whether they be in the form of technical challenges or in the form of criticism from people I would hope to have support from — it usually means I’m onto something Big. It’s time to hunker down. Time to stick to the trail. Time to really tune in and listen closely to what my own heart is telling me. Opinions are like noses: most everybody has one. Technical challenges mean you’re attempting to go forward into unknown territory.

It’s not grandiose to say that each time one of us chooses to go past the obstacles and opposition — on whatever playing field we’re on — we are creating a new benchmark for humanity. So to those who are told they will never walk again and who walk again, to those who are threatened with death for expressing their viewpoint, as well as for those who are merely criticized, to those who struggle against their own inner demons and those who face outer ones, I say, “Walk on through the Unbelief! You cannot know what ripples your steps may cause.”

Robert F. Kennedy put it this way in a speech he gave at the University of Capetown, South Africa: “Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills — against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence… Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation…

It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man or a woman stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he or she sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Walk on.

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