A Simple and Demanding New Year’s Resolution
At the turn of the century (1900) in New Hampshire, two teenage boys, Tom and Maxwell, decided to go for a swim across a deep pond. Tom, not a strong swimmer, began to panic and grabbed Maxwell in an attempt to stay afloat. They both began to go under. Maxwell, now panicking himself, freed himself from Tom’s grip and swam toward shore. Almost to safety, something inside himself awakened his conscience. He turned around and began to swim toward his drowning friend to save him. Grabbing his friend, they somehow both made it to shore. Once on land, Maxwell cleared his friend’s airway and saved his life.
This event left an indelible mark on Maxwell. According to Ryan Holiday, author of Right Thing, Right Now, Maxwell made a resolution, the only one he ever kept. “Don’t refuse a responsibility.”
Maxwell Perkins, born in 1884, later became an editor at Scribner’s. He went on to discover and be the literary editor for two of my favorite author, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The movie, Genius, chronicles his life story.
If you make one New Year’s Resolution this year, this simple resolution will make a huge difference in your life and your children’s. Maxwell would simply say, “Take responsibility, take ownership!”
Thanks for reading!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE
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