Think and Grow Rich

[Immie]

After Dale’s recommendation, I decided to give the book, Think and Grow Rich, which is easily accessible for free online, a read. I can’t say I’ve had too much time to adopt its principles yet, but having finished a few chapters, I’d like to share an experience of my families that the stories within reminded me of.

N. Hill stated in his book that ‘Verily, there is nothing, right or wrong, which BELIEF, plus BURNING DESIRE, cannot make real.’

My little brother was an unplanned pregnancy and it wasn’t long before scans came back to show he would be born with a form of dwarfism. My parents were devastated, entirely unsure of how impacted their sons life would be with this disability, and terrified for him. When he was born, he had a misshapen skull and extremely short arms and legs and it was predicted by the doctors that he would even be short for a dwarf. My parents were told he wouldn’t ride a bike, wouldn’t jump on a trampoline, wouldn’t run and play with the other children. To make matters worse, he came down with pneumonia which was repeatedly misdiagnosed and mistreated.

Well my mother wouldn’t have it. She took him to every doctor she could and, only when he was on the cusp of death, did someone work out his affliction and begin proper treatment. He would live, which was the first victory.

The next issue was his life and general fulfilment. Well my parents weren’t going to let him live a life without fun, and an opportunity came up when he was still very young to take part in clinical trials across England which aimed to encourage the growth of children with dwarfism. We do not live close to where this trial was happening and thus shouldn’t have been considered, but my brother became one of the first in the country to be apart of these trials. He has since grown to be well above the average height for people with dwarfism, with almost strangely good proportions. He regularly rides his bike for miles around town, plays games with his friends, and, despite being only 16, can bench above my body weight, a 22 year old healthy woman. This was all deemed impossible, but opportunity came to my parents and their only mindset was one of success.

Now, my more recent and final point; A few years ago my brother was found to have a compression in his spine. This is common in children with dwarfism, but we were told he would 100% be paralysed if this compression went untreated. After visiting a surgeon, we were further informed that he had caused paralysis while treating compressions like this, and he couldn’t guarantee that my brother would walk out of this at all.

Well that wasn’t happening. My mother took him home, decided he would not be going through that, and made a few calls. With an incredibly pressing time constraint, she ensured he was seeing the best spinal surgeon in the country. An appointment was made, surgery was carried out, and my brother now has a very cool scar and a lot of metal in his spine.

The point of this very long post is that I now believe the reason my brother has made it this far despite every single obstacle thrown his way is that my mother refused them at every turn. Her son would not die in infancy, would not be ostracised from other children, would not be so negatively impacted by his disorder, and would not be paralysed. Looking back on life, everything aligned so perfectly that I cannot imagine a better set of coincidences ensuring my brothers quality of life. It was, as stated in ‘Think and Grow Rich’, my mothers burning desire to see a better life for him, and her absolute refusal for anything but the best, that not only saved his life but brought him here. He’s healthy, happy, studying at college to go into manual labour, and is stronger than all his friends. He benches the same weight as my 6’1, built father, and has never let anything beat him down.

This is only the first story that came to mind while reading of Hill’s experience with his son, born without ears, who miraculously was able to hear in time despite there being no holes in his skull where ears would go. He accounts this victory to his own burning desire for his son to hear and live normally, and his constant faith and instillment in his son that he would, and WANTED, to hear. I only wanted to share as I’ve never even thought of my brothers story in such a context until today, and I wonder if this story might inspire others to reassess their own lives and the coincides that happened when they persevered.

[Dale]

Powerful post Immie! And it sounds like your mother is an incredible mom, just what your brother needed. Your life experience is a message of hope, but also of what pure raw ‘will’ can accomplish. Thank you for being open and sharing your life with us! Keep reading Think & Grow Rich, front to back, at least 2 or 3 times, until you are quoting it. And then read it every 6 months. It’s not about money, it’s about creating everything.

- Dale Sellers

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