Watching JFK, From A School Bus
September 18th, 2008
It was the late fall of 1960 and John Fitzgerald Kennedy was about to be anointed by the American people as President of the United States.
I was a kid on a school bus, too young and preoccupied with an out of control family, academia and a budding fascination with girls to care a whit about politics. Yes, I had watched Ike talk on TV from the Oval Office now and then, and pretended to listen dutifully in front of my father, but the Supreme Allied Commander and all of his peers could hardly hold a candle to the strains of rock and roll starting to blast through the windows of the older kids’ Corvettes.
And then, in a second, my world changed in a way I would never forget. Through that school bus window I caught a glimpse of JFK on television, through the window of a tiny Queens cape in Bayside, New York.
Somehow, the soon-to-be president and rock and roll were suddenly one and the same. There was an epiphany, a lesson that applies to this day; that still resonates!
Some people, some select few, are not merely people. They are magic in a bottle. Canned heat. Fire and ice. We can’t try to be like this; we are either born with it or not, but we can learn from it.
Last year, I spoke at the annual Siemens’ CEO conference, Ascent, in Berlin. When I would talk to Berliners — cab drivers, executives, waiters, anyone of every age–they spoke with pride of JFK’s glorious Berlin speech.
This year, when Barack Obama needed a rocket power boost for his primary run against Hillary, Caroline Kennedy evoked the name of The Rocket Man, her father, our JFK, and Obama’s trajectory shot skyward.
God makes very few JFK’s. But he makes millions who can study him and Thatcher and the handful of men and women who set the bar.
So many of us fall short because we make excuses. Families to tend to; no money to start with; illnesses to overcome; lovers to appease. But it’s all noise. I was asked to talk about the Oprah\Palin mini-bout by Fox News the other day. And as I prepared my thoughts, it struck me how both had much more in common than that which divides them.
* Both fought like hell for success.
* Both rejected the standard excuses.
* Both would not settle for mediocre.
* Both are making a mark on the world.
* Both reject conventional thinking as “crowd control” designed to keep them in place by threatened also - rans.
When you see greatness from a bus, refuse to get off when it stops. Take the wheel and drive yourself to the finish line. No one else will.
Mark Stevens
CEO
September 19th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Mark,
Thanks again for writing all your blogs, I read them all.
While I agree some people will ultimately effect a larger part of the population than others out of their own self developed drive to live a larger legacy, God does not “make” anyone superior to anyone, and when you go on to say “but he makes millions who can study them” that’s coming across just like that.
“We can’t try to be like this; we are either born with it or not, but we can learn from it.”
…That line is defeatist. You are telling human beings exactly what they CANNOT do based on nothing. I say to all, go ahead and BE…with no restrictions. When you tell people what they “cannot do” based on “god already decided for you” … well that just makes no sense!
“So many of us fall short because we make excuses. Families to tend to; no money to start with; illnesses to overcome; lovers to appease. But it’s all noise.”
This is where the blog starts to make sense again! BUT isn’t being told God has some how pre-ranked you as a “non-magic in a bottle person” also noise??? Sounds like it to me.
I don’t agree at all with telling people there is some predisposed ranking of individuals, and a mere few should be studied and learned from…in fact MANY should be studied! You can learn just as valuable a lesson from an innocent child who is not famous in any way shape or form and is perhaps just learning to walk upright, then you can from JFK, if your soul is open and humble enough to recognize the lesson.
-Gaston
September 19th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Agreed with Gaston 100%.
You can achieve anything you want if you have mental toughness and dedication. Has zero to do with god “making someone like this”.
That statement defies logic.