Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude

It was in this year 1951 that two Darby men, Mr. A. E. Cumley and Mr. L. I. Thompson, saw a mineral collection displayed in the town. Thompson and Cumley became very excited. There in the mineral display were specimens of beryl which, according to the attached card, was used in atomic energy research. Immediately Thompson and Cumley staked claims on Crystal Mountain. Thompson sent a specimen of the ore to the Bureau of Mines office in Spokane, together with a request to send an examiner to see a "very large deposit" of the mineral. Later that year the Bureau of Mines sent a bulldozer up the mountain and scraped off enough of the outcropping to determine that here indeed was one of the world's greatest deposits of extremely valuable beryllium. Today, heavy earth-moving trucks struggle up the mountain and work their way back down again, weighted down with the extremely heavy ore, while at the bottom, virtually waiting with dollar bills in their hands, are representatives of the

United States Steel Company and the United States Government, each anxious to buy the highly valued ore. All because one day two young men not only observed with their eyes, but took the trouble to see with their minds. Today these men are well on their way to being multimillionaires.

A mentally farsighted person could not have done what Thompson and Cumley did ? if his mental vision were distorted. For he is the man who can see only far-off values while the advantages that lie at his feet go un-claimed. Are there fortunes right at your doorstep? Look about you. As you go about your daily chores are there small areas of irritation? Perhaps you can think of a way to overcome them ? a way that will be helpful not only to yourself but to others. Many a man has made a fortune by meeting such homely needs. This was so of the man who invented the bobby pin and the one who devised the paper clip. It was so of the man who invented the zipper, and the metal pants-fastener. Look about you. Learn to see. You may find Acres of Diamonds in your own backyard.

But mental nearsightedness can be just as much of a problem as mental farsightedness. The man with this problem sees only what is under his nose, while more distant possibilities go unclaimed. He is the man who does not understand the power of a plan. He does not understand the value of thinking time. He is so busy with the problems that immediately confront him that he does not free his mind to range into the distance, reaching for new opportunities, seeking trends, getting the big picture.

Being able to see into the future is one of the most spectacular accomplishments of the human brain. Down in the heart of the citrus belt in Florida there is a little town called Winter Haven. The surrounding country is farmland. Certainly it would be considered by most people as an area entirely unsuited for a large tourist attraction. It is isolated. It has no beach, no mountains,

only mile after mile of gently rolling hills with little lakes and cypress swamps down in the valleys.

But to this region came a man who "saw" these cypress swamps with an eye that others had not used. His name was Richard Pope. Dick Pope bought one of these old cypress swamps, put a fence around it, and has turned down offers of at least a million dollars for the world-famous Cypress Gardens.

Of course, it really wasn't as simple as that. All along the line Dick Pope had to "see" opportunities in his situation.

For instance, there was the question of advertising. Pope knew that the only way he would be able to draw the public into such an isolated place was through a barrage of advertising. But ads cost money. So what Dick Pope did was quite simple. He went into the popular photography business. He set up a photo supply house at Cypress Gardens, sold his visitors film and then taught them how to take spectacular shots of the Garden. He hired skilled water skiers. He put them through intricate performances while over a loudspeaker he announced to the public exactly what camera settings they should use in order to catch the action. And then, of course, when these travelers went back home, the very best trip pictures were always of Cypress Gardens. They gave Dick Pope the very best kind of advertising there is ? word-of-mouth recommendations, with pictures!

This is the kind of creative seeing that we all need to develop. We need to learn how to look at our world with fresh eyes ? seeing the opportunities that lie all about us, but simultaneously looking into the future for the chances that are there.

Seeing is a learned skill. But like any skill it must be exercised.

See another person's abilities, capacities and viewpoint. We