Friday, June 25, 2010

Making The Best Of What You Have...!


We have all been given special talents as gifts.

All too often, we don't recognize these gifts, allowing them to lay unused and of little or no use to us.

Likewise we all have dreams, but often don't think they are obtainable or that we are not worthy of their fulfillment! But then, on occasion, there are those of us that never give up our dream. Those that never stop working toward the happiness of realizing those dreams.

This is one of those stories! You may have heard it before, maybe not. If you have, then it's worth hearing again. If you haven't heard it before, you might enjoy it!


Let me tell you, Jesse hated this job. And you would too, I imagine, if you had to do it. Jesse was a chicken plucker. That's right!

He stood on a line in a chicken factory and spent his days pulling the feathers off dead chickens so the rest of us wouldn't have to. It wasn't much of a job.

But at the time, Jesse didn't think he was much of a person. His father was a brute of a man. His dad was actually thought to be mentally ill and treated Jesse rough all of his life.

Jesse's older brother wasn't much better. He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up. Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia .

Life was anything but easy.
And he thought life didn't hold much hope for him. That's why he was standing in this chicken line, doing a job that darn few people wanted.

In addition to all the rough treatment at home, it seems that Jesse was always sick. Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too often it was all in his head. He was a small child, skinny and meek. That sure didn't help the situation any.

When he started to school, he was the object of every bully on the playground.

He was a hypochondriac of the first order. For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something to be looked forward to.

But, he had dreams! He wanted to be a ventriloquist!

He found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with sock puppets and saved his hard earned dollars until he could get a real ventriloquist dummy.

When he got old enough, he joined the military. And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms persisted, the military did recognize his talents and put him in the entertainment corp.

That was when his world changed. He gained confidence.

He found that he had a talent for making people laugh, and laugh so hard they often had tears in their eyes. Yes, little Jesse had found himself.

You know, folks, the history books are full of people who overcame a handicap to go on and make a success of themselves, but Jesse is one of the few I know of who didn't overcome it. Instead he used his paranoia to make a million dollars, and become one of the best-loved characters of all time in doing it!

Yes, that little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred his nervousness into a successful career, still holds the record for the most Emmy's given in a single category.

The wonderful, gifted, talented, and nervous comedian who brought us Barney Fife ...was Jesse Don Knotts!!

NOW YOU KNOW, "THE REST OF THE STORY!"

Well, I hope you enjoy this story. The moral of the story should not be lost! It's a simple moral...DON'T GIVE UP! Keep your dreams alive and keep working toward finalizing them!

Never doubt that you have a talent! We all have a talent of some kind, a God given way to help people, make people smile, or brighten their lives! We just have to find it! So find it, develop it, and use it to the fullest potential that you can!

Now, let's have some fresh coffee or tea on the patio. Sound good...?

14 comments:

Felinae said...

Thank you, Uncle Hermit

I hadn't heard Don Knotts story before. Good thing for us, he never gave up on his dreams. I enjoyed his talents in numerous shows.

Have a great day!
Hugs~Felinae~

HermitJim said...

Hey Felinae...
Talented man and a pleasure to watch! I used to see him when I was a kid and he was on the Steve Allen Show!

Very entertaining!

Hey, thanks for coming by today!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

What a great story to start off the day, HJ. And i read it while enjoying a cup of coffee too. Thanks for sharing...you are so right - never stop dreaming or give up!

Grumpyunk said...

Thanks Hermit. Never knew that story.
My oldest son is working on a book right now. I have no idea if it's any good or not but I have been encouraging him to go for it. He's had a head full of goofy ideas and stories ever since he was a little kid. Always making movies and such with his grandpas video camera.
Who knows? Maybe he'll make it to the bigs.

Ben in Texas said...

Funny Man, and Army Man to boot!!! Didja ever see the movie The Ghost and Mr Chicken? Funny Movie.. Bet you can find it to watch somewhere..

Baby Sis said...

Bubba -

Good story and good moral. Among your many talents is to daily keep us all smiling or thinking or giving us a gentle kick in the pants.Wake us up, cheer us up, make us more aware, more grateful, or just more alive. I love you, Bubba.

Plan to see you tomorrow, hopefully with cookies in hand...

HermitJim said...

Hey Beatrice...
Important to keep hope alive, I believe! Gives us a reason to keep on plugging!

My friend, I sure do thank you for coming by today!


Hey Gumpyunk...
I think that's great about the book! You never know what can happen, but unless you go for it and give it a shot...you can't be a success!

Tell him "good luck" from the Hermit!

Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Ben...
I saw the "Ghost and Mr. Chicken" and also " Incredible Mr. Limpet", both very funny movies!

Gotta love folks like that who can provide us with a smile once in a while!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by today!


Hy Sis...
It's always a good thing to see you again, especially if you bring some cookies!

You do know my weakness, that's for sure!

Thanks for the kind words this morning!

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

You are so right! Never give up on Your dreams!
I had never heard the story of his life before, but i have laughed a lot when seeing him on TV :-) Thanks for the info!
Midsummer is here and it´s probably as big as Christmas over here.
Have a great midsummer!
Christer.

Mechanic in Illinois said...

We all have a hidden talent, it's called patriotism. Don't give up,don't ever give up. There's 3% of us that won't for sure. Thanks for another great lesson.

HermitJim said...

Hey Christer...
He did bring us a lot of laughs over the years! That is a special talent for sure, to mke people laugh!

Hey, have a good celebration of mid-summer!

Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Mechanic...
How ight you are, my friend! Being a member of the 3% is a ery good thing!

Patriotism is first and foremost in my book!

Thanks for coming by today!

JoJo said...

Good Morning My Specail One
Couldn't make this laptop work this morning.
Anyway loved the story I did not know about his life before. I love him and he has brought laughter to me many times.
I agree never give up your dreams. When I was shopping for odds and ends for my summer place I found a sign that reads Dreams Come True. Most say dreams can come true. I bought that sign without a thought and hung it at the front door. You don't have to own the best of everything just what makes it yours, and build on it from there.
Coffee with you my friend is part of my happyness :)

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
so many times we are so close to making our dreams a reality, then get sidetracked. Can't let that happen!

Glad you found a sign just right for you! Also glad you could come by today!

MamaHen said...

That's a great story! thanks for sharing; I had never heard that about Don Knotts before.

possum said...

Just found your blog... great stories!