DOZ Issue 21 July 2017 | Page 13

When someone tries to place limitations on you by telling you what you can or cannot achieve and how far they think you can go, refuse it; remember they don’t know enough about you to make know you and are still in the process of knowing you, who else can claim to know you? Therefore, when someone puts a label on you, refuse to wear it (the label is not for you, it is for the person he or she thinks you are). When someone tries to place limitations on you by telling you what you can or cannot achieve and how far they think you can go, refuse it; remember they don’t know enough about you to make that judgement. When David showed up to fight Goliath, Saul the king said to him, “you are not able to go out against him because you are only a youth and he has been a warrior from his youth.” (Paraphrased) Saul said that because he didn’t know enough about David. He didn’t know that the young lad (David) had fought and killed a lion and a bear. A few years ago, I met a young man who owned a successful importing/exporting business named McCarthy, Green & Curlsey. I was curious to know why he had named his business thus so I asked, and his reply was not what I expected to hear. He said, “These are the names of my professors who told me I would not amount to anything in life.” that judgement. Obviously, McCarthy, Green, and Curlsey were wrong. Albert Einstein was called dull by one teacher, and another told him he would not amount to anything in life, today we celebrate the life of Albert Einstein, but no one knows the names of those two teachers. They died without recognition. David’s father did not think he would amount to anything much, other than a keeper of the sheep. He certainly didn’t see a king when he looked at David because when it was time to present his sons before Samuel, to the end that one would be chosen as king, he did not think to invite David. As a matter of fact, he completely forgot David until those he hoped would make it did not sail through and Samuel asked, “Are these all your children?” (Paraphrased) Eventually, the one he thought could not be king became king. So, the next time someone tries to tell you what you can or cannot do or what you can or cannot be, don’t take it to heart, understand that they simply do not know you, they only think they do. DOZ Magazine July 2017 13 «