Do you have a Mr. John D. Rockefeller?

A businessman who was deep in debt was unable to see a way out of the mess. Creditors were closing in on him, suppliers were demanding payment. One day he went to a park and sat there on a bench holding his head in his hands, wondering if there could be anything at all that could save his company from bankruptcy. He had given his best and tried everything he could but nothing had happened. As the man sat there ridden with his anxieties and worries, an old man came and sat right next to him. The old man said, “I can tell that you are very disturbed. There’s something playing on your mind, something troubling you. What's the matter?”. Thinking that there was no other way left anyways and that opening his mind up would make him feel a little better and a little lighter, the businessman told the old man all his financial problems. After listening to the executive’s story, the old man said, “I think I can help you”. He asked the man his name, wrote out a cheque, and pushed it into the man’s hand saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today and you can pay me back at that time”. Then he turned around and disappeared as quickly as he had come. 

The businessman looked at the cheque. He was astonished by what he saw. It was a cheque for half a million dollars signed by the then one of the richest men in the world, John Davison Rockefeller. ?he businessman had a smile on his face, as he knew that with all this money, his anxieties would now be wiped away in a jiffy. But instead of using the money right away, he decided to put the uncashed cheque in his safe. Now he could still give another shot to save his business without using all this money. After all, if nothing came out of his efforts, he had the cheque for half a million dollars as a sure shot and the secure fallback option to salvage his business from bankruptcy. With renewed optimism, zeal, and rigour the businessman negotiated better deals and extended his terms of payment. He closed several big sales and within a few months, he was completely out of the debt without using a single cent from the cheque that he had gotten from Mr. Rockefeller and his business was once again making money now. 

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed cheque. As they agreed upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the businessman was about to hand back the cheque and share his success story, a nurse came running and grabbed the old man, “I’m so glad I caught him”, she cried. I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always escaping from the rest home and telling people that he is Mr. John D. Rockefeller. And then she walked away holding the old man by his arm. The astonished businessman just stood there, stunned. All year long he had been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced that he had half a million dollars behind him. 

Suddenly he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or imagined that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that had given him the power to achieve anything that he went after. Not too sure how true this story is, but isn’t it a fact that when we go through massive challenges - financial or emotional or related to our health, we can end up feeling overwhelmed and helpless, sometimes to the extent of wanting to end our lives. We feel drained having exhausted all our resources, financial and mental. Do you know something? What we need to fight the challenge is not so many resources but the confidence, the strength to fight. And that’s exactly what we badly lack at that time. And then we have someone or something behind us that can support and help us pull through all the mess and bounce back to success with gratitude, experience, realization, and wisdom. 

Do you have a Mr. John D. Rockefeller? But trust me, it's good to have a real one.