| "The Great Blondin." was a stunt performer or
"daredevil." His speciality was tightrope walking. His real
name was Jean Francois Gravelot.
Blondin was quite a showman. People travelled a long way to see The
Great Blondin perform. He made sure they got their money's worth. He
would begin his stunts by talking to the audience and working them into
a frenzy.
One particularly spectacular stunt was his attempt to cross the
Niagra River on a tightrope. Before he set off, he yelled to the crowd,
"Do you believe that I, the Great Blondin, can successfully cross
high above this river on a tightrope?" And the crowd yelled back,
"We believe! We believe!" Then Blondin began his crossing, and
to the thrill of the crowd, he made it safely. The crowd went wild. They
clapped and cheered and yelled for more.
Then Blondin asked the people, "Do you believe that I, The Great
Blondin, can again successfully cross over the Niagra River on this
tightrope -- this time while pushing a wheelbarrow?" The crowd
enthusiastically yelled back, "We believe! We believe! We
believe!"
So seeing their enthusiasm, Blondin yelled to the crowd: "Who
among you is willing to ride inside of the wheelbarrow and allow me to
push you as I cross on this tightrope?" The crowd went silent. Not
one person volunteered. I believe that eventually his manager
volunteered to go in the wheelbarrow, and Blondin successfully pushed
him across the tightrope.
Thoughts:
There are various versions of this story, each claiming to be the
authentic one. I believe that the incident took place, but cannot vouch
for the authenticity of this version! It is great to have your supporters, but know when push comes to
shove you will have to depend upon yourself first, and possibly those
that depend upon you second. So often in life our friends appear to be
giving us the support that we need, until it comes down to the crunch of
actually taking action themselves to help. at those times you need a
strong belief in yourself. That is something that sessions with a professional
coach can help you with. If you want to build your
self-belief, why don't you contact
me and together we will move you to new heights while still
maintaining your balance. Eric
Sutherland
Make the Connection |
