The Oz Principle and Don't be Afraid of the Word NO!

     
At work, we are reading this book called The Oz Principle, it’s a voluntary book club and we will have discussions throughout the reading of it, but I read the beginning of Chapter 1 and I see something that I believe in and voice a lot but never thought to find it in a book called the Wizard of Oz. It really opened my eyes. 

     “Who are you?” asked the Scarecrow when he had stretched himself and yawned, “and where are you going?” 
     “My name is Dorothy,” said the girl, “and I am going to the Emerald City, to ask the great Oz to send me back to Kansas.”
     “Where is the Emerald City?” he inquired; “and who is Oz?”    “Why, don’t you know? She returned, in surprise. “No, indeed, I don’t know anything. You see, I am stuffed, so I have no brains at all,” he answered sadly. “Oh,” said Dorothy; “I’m awfully sorry for you.” “Do you think,” he asked, “if I go to the Emerald City with you that Oz would give me some brains?” “I cannot tell,” she returned; “but you may come with me, if you like. If Oz will not give you any brains you will be no worse off than you are now.” “That is true,” said the Scarecrow. --The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum 

      There have been many times in my life that I have given up on something I wanted or needed because I would talk myself out of it. Thinking to myself that someone would tell me no or some other obstacle would stop me or prevent me from achieving my goal. 

     But with age comes wisdom! Several years ago when I was trying to get pre-approved to buy my first home, the bank gave me a number that they would approve for me. It was about $10,000 less than the asking price of the home. I was doomed. I called my sister and we cried on each other’s shoulder, sad that this was not to be, my pretty little house was just a dream…a far-away, unreachable dream. 

     As we drove to the house to let the seller know that I was not approved for their asking price it dawned on me that I was approved for a certain amount. What if instead of saying, “Sorry, I can’t give you your asking price,” and walking away with my tail tucked between my leg I said to them, “I can’t give you your asking price, but I can offer this.” What did I have to lose? I already didn't have the house and had lived my whole life without it. I was already resigned to the fact that the bank would not pre-approve me for what I wanted and I wasn't going to get the house anyway. I would be no worse off than I was now, but I at least needed to give it a shot, right? 

     So I did it, I offered them the amount that I was pre-approved for and lo and behold…they accepted my offer and I got the house. So I learned a valuable lesson, DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE WORD NO! Reach for what you want, in the end you will be no worse off than how you started. If you go into a situation with a mindset that you have already been defeated, then the only thing that defeated you was YOU.