What would you gain from setting yourself up for failure? JC shares a story of a dry cleaner in Dayton, Ohio and what this man's failure can teach us all.
Mister Martin Tanner was a dry cleaner in Dayton, Ohio. He had a dream of being a singer. He put himself out there and he failed. Harry Chapin saw that four line review and was moved by it. Chapin wrote a song about Mister Tanner.
What are the things that maybe the world needs you to put out there? Maybe not because it's going to give you gold records and concert tours. Consider that thought as you open your eyes and look ahead to your day. Have a good day.
We don't spend a lot of time practicing failure, do we? Failure is something that we are taught to refrain from. We should do things that we're going to be successful at, and at all costs, refrain from failing, get straight a's, don't get any f's. What would we gain from potentially putting ourselves into situations where we could fail? Where we maybe bite off more than we could chew? Where we perhaps attempt to accomplish something that we actually don't know if we're capable of accomplishing? Well, here's a little four line review from someone who did exactly that.
His name is Mister Martin Tanner. He was a dry cleaner in Dayton, Ohio. He had a dream of being a singer, so he went to New York, did a concert, and this was his review. Mister Martin Tanner, aberitone of Dayton, Ohio made his town hall debut last night. He came well prepared, but unfortunately his presentation was not up to contemporary professional standards. His voice lacks the range of tonal color to make it consistently interesting. Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order.
So the reason why I know that review is because another singer by the name of Harry Chapin saw that four line review when he was sitting on the subway and he read it. He didn't know Mister Martin Tanner, but he was moved by this four line review. So he went to Dayton, Ohio and met Mister Tanner and wrote this song telling the story of this dry cleaner who all of his friends said, you have this beautiful voice. You need to go sing. So he put himself out there and he failed. And yet he touched Harry Chapin, who in turn wrote this song of this brave soul who put himself out there.
Harry Chapin writes in the chorus of this song, but music was his life, it was not his livelihood. And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good. And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul. He did not know how well he sang. It just made him whole. What are the things that maybe the world needs you to put out there? Maybe not because it's going to give you gold records and concert tours, but maybe because we all need to be reminded that we get a lot more out of attempting things that we may fail at than shying away from letting the things that are important to us be seen.
I'm thankful for Mister Tanner. I'm thankful for Harry Chapin's presence in seeing that four line review and creating a relationship to write a song. And I'm grateful for the moments that I see people risk to put the important things into the world so soften your eyes. Be where you are right now. With what you have, your talents, your dreams, your passions. What does the world need you to put out there for this minute? Consider that thought as you open your eyes and look ahead to your day. Ahead.
What are the things that maybe the world would benefit from? And you too, if you brought them into the world for all to see. Have a good day.
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