No. 242 - A DIFFERENT VIEW OF MT. EVEREST

No. 242

Jim Davidson...NEWSPAPER COLUMN

A DIFFERENT VIEW OF MT. EVEREST

Its been said that Behind every successful man is a surprised mother-in-law. Most people like Surprises, especially if they turn out to be good, like a surprise birthday party, an unexpected vacation trip given by an organization or another person, an investment that turns out to be a windfall and other things of this nature. As a kid I always loved to get a box of Cracker Jacks because I wanted to see the surprise that was also in the box.

Several weeks ago I attended our state Press Associations annual convention and we had a great luncheon speaker. His name is Larry Kryske, President of Homeport Training & Development based in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Larry was a wonderful speaker and his presentation contained a number of Surprises that captured not only the attention, but also the imaginations of those in the audience. In a moment I want to share one of those Surprises that contains a very profound concept but first this admonition.

Because this is the way Larry Kryske earns his living, his brochure contains this statement. He says, PLEASE NOTE: There were several visual surprises in the Rediscover The Masterpiece In You presentation. Please keep the secret. Dont ruin the effect for future audiences. Thank You. While the odds are not good that you will be in attendance at any of his future presentations, if you are, please dont share the Surprises with others as it will ruin the experience and the thrill of a surprise for them. Again, Thank You.

What made Larrys presentation Rediscover The Masterpiece In You so effective is that he is also an artist. He had a large blank canvas set up on an easel and as he began to speak, from time to time he would go over to the canvas and brush a few strokes of various colors. We didnt know where he was going but I tell you, he almost wore that brush out for about 40 minutes. It was not until the tail end of his presentation that the picture became clear, and thus his message, became obvious to all of us.

Before I share it with you, let me say that Larry Kryske has become somewhat of an authority on Winston Churchill that famous British statesman who may have saved the free world with his courage, leadership and superior oratory skills. Who can forget his famous speech when he said, We will never, never, never give up that came during the darkest hours of the war. Larrys real talent as a speaker came through when he was able to weave various aspects of Churchills life and career in a way that created suspense and left you hanging on the edge of your seat. Some of his comments were: Do it now and dont look back, Courage...the more you use it, the stronger youll be, perfection will paralyze your performance, changing perspective means changing your viewpoint. Just some nuggets of truth that you may want to think about.

The focal point of Larrys painting was Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world and it was painted to loom in the distance as an imposing figure. Then he changed the color of his paint to a skin tone and painted just the bottom part of a persons legs to give the perception of a human being 10 times as large as the mountain. What we didnt know is that all the rest of the time he had been painting the shoes. It was easy to visualize that this person could step over this great mountain with a single step.

The real message was to help us realize that as human beings we can accomplish almost anything if we keep perspective. We have been endowed by a living God with talents and abilities unlike any other creature on earth. In the vast majority of cases, to become a great success, all we have to do is use them. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)