PERSEVERE DESPITE HARDSHIP
ASK a successful person and chances are he would have a personal story to tell of hardship, struggle and even failure. We know of such stories through articles, books, and films. One good example is the life story of Walt Disney.
If you think life has been treating you bad, you must watch the true story about Walt Disney in his early years before he became well known. As a child, Walt had shown his artistic talent, drawing on anything that he could lay his hands on — paper, walls, and barnyard doors.
Not everyone was impressed, including his annoyed father. But he never stopped his son. Instead, he urged Walt to put his talent to good use and to never give up pursuing his dream despite the fact that he (Walt's father) didn't believe that there was a good future in animation and the art industry in general.
As he grew into his 20s, Walt became a passionate and talented animator. But there was one problem: He was an inexperienced businessman. He managed to sell his first animation but due to pricing carelessness, didn’t make much money. This led to a difficult situation and his crew began to leave. They had been patient and supportive but they also needed to get paid.
Despite producing a number of bestselling series, Walt suffered losses and became bankrupt. He was even homeless and resorted to foraging for food in garbage dumps and eating sandwiches that people had discarded.
Recalling his father's advice, he wasn't prepared to give up. He created more new shows such as Alice Comedies and Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. But a greedy distributor cheated him and ended up owning the copyrights to both. Walt was forced to produce for him just to survive while the distributor made lots of money.
He was on the brink of bankruptcy again. Tired of the manipulations, he walked away with nothing except for the support of his brother Roy, his loving wife Lilian, and loyal friend Ub. Not long after, Mickey was born. And the rest is history.
A lesser person would've just quit. But not Walt. He went on to create beautiful stories for people to enjoy and be inspired. My own family not only loves his movies, we also learn a lot from them. His works are family-friendly, and loaded with messages of love, peace, fairness and happiness.
As a parent, I’d love for my children to grow up and emulate Walt's diehard attitude. I want them to know that while passion and talent will take them far, only a positive attitude and hard work will break the barriers. I want them to know that people can take away their ideas and products but if they're good and never give up, they'll build them better and bigger all over again.