I’ve been experiencing the mid-semester blues lately,
especially leading up to the completion of my master’s thesis. Success and
failure have been looming themes in my life recently, and as if the Chaffey
Brothers could read my mind I came across this letter:
“We notice that it is your deposition always to lean on
others and we say in all kindness that if you are going to make a success
especially in this country you must stand alone and depend upon your own judgement
and rely upon your own strong hand to make business go.
We do not feel it to be our duty to you or to outsiders to
omit & point out the fact that if a man wants or expects success he must
take hold of the plow and never look back, bending all his efforts and energy
towards the land in view.
We will adhere strictly to a guarantee up to this time, but
beyond it you must decide to act for yourself.
We shall always take pleasure in affording you every
possible assistance in either a friendly or a business way, but all your
decisions must be from yourself & for yourself.”
It’s a good reminder that I have a lot of work to do to
finish my degree. My fate is in my own hands and my commitment to complete my
work can’t falter at the finish-line. If you are also struggling to find the
motivation to work I encourage you to take hold of the plow and never look
back!