In the film Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carrey finally gets a date with his ideal woman and tells her he is in love with her. Then he asks her, What do you think are my chances?one out of ten?

After barely a moments thought, she bluntly answers, More like one in a million.

Carrey grows very serious, and then a huge smile breaks out on his face. Wow! he exclaims ecstatically. I have a chance!

For once at least, this characters simple mindedness works in his favor. He is the eternal optimist, acknowledging the one-millionth of the glass that is full, rather than the rest that is empty. His attitude is more prone to create success than someone who would be turned away by initial rejecion. Many great people were rejected before they became celebrities. Einstein failed mathematics; Beethovens violin teacher called him hopeless as a composer; the sculptor Rodin failed three times to gain admission to art school; eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bachs Jonathan Livingston Seagull before it became a sensation; Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas; several record companies rejected the Beatles before they made their first album, and one producer commented that their music was passe.

Remember that your destiny is determined not by chance, but by choice. No matter what chances you are quoted by statistics, you have the ability to make your own statistic. Sometimes all you need is that one chance in a million. If you capitalize on it, it is all worth it.



Give me the confidence to believe in myself.
Help me to see the light rather than the darkness.



I make every experience work for me.

Everything that happens to me is an
opportunity to further my success.

A Deep Breath of Life , Alan Cohen