LARRY AND TOM

Posted By: Gordon Alexander
Date: Wednesday, 19 July 2000, at 7:48 p.m.

This is a TRUE STORY.

It is about Larry and Tom. Two guys I knew back at the Center of the Universe.

Larry was on my junior high football team, Tom was on my baseball team.

They lived in the same neighborhood, right near Sill School. They were like peas in a pod. Nearly inseparable. Nearly identical. Nearly twins.

It has been 35 years since we played sports together. Both of them were good athletes, far better than me.

Both of them became my clients too.

Larry took golf lessons from me. He had taken over his father's one man business and now employs dozens of employees. Larry lives in one of the biggest homes in the best neighborhood in town.

Larry is a success.

Tom was also a client of mine. I was a member of AmeriCorps and we helped homeless veterans find services. I ran into Tom on the streets of Akron.

Tom was broke, penniless, homeless. A burnt out shell of his former athletic body stood before me asking for a handout. Tom was what we once would have called a Bum.

Two real men. Similar backgrounds. Similar skills and strengths.

Now, since I don't have a magazine or newspaper subscription to sell you (a lot of talk on the forums about the Wall Street Journal classic sales letter called Two Men),

I'll not try to explain why doing something like reading a certain paper is what made a difference in these two men's lives.

NOPE. In fact, I'm going to tell you why both of these men are more ALIKE than they appear.

Larry gets what he wants. He works hard. Has built a huge business. He does whatever it takes to get his success.

Tom gets what he wants. He knows how to beg, bum or steal. But he always gets his bottle of wine. He always gets a cigarette. He does what ever it takes to get what he wants.

You see, in my life, I have worked with many people at what is perceived to be the opposite ends of society.

As a golf professional I was surrounded by men and women of means and material. Successful people, in that they had taken care of their material needs. If you are an adult you probably have learned that money doesn't buy you happiness and NO it's not because you don't know where to shop either.

I spent many days walking down plush fairways of some of the finest country clubs in Northeast Ohio. I was able to communicate with these people on their level. I owned a business. I was successful. I "walked the talk" as the gurus like to say.

There were twice as many days spent walking down the cement road of despair as a social worker.

I remember having to go to the local crack house to pull a client out and take him to work. Many hours spent in the state psychiatric hospital waiting to see if a client was going to be OK.

Two very different worlds I lived in, almost a parallel universe it seemed at times.

But here is the point (and I've been off the Internet for awhile, so remember, sometimes there is NO point, I just love to rant, HA!)

The masses, the ones in the pregnant part of the bell curve, the majority...

don't know what they want and therefore they never get it.

The reason I've agreed to let Dien Rice publish some of my work, and there is a ton of it coming, is because I have something that can help.

I couldn't swing the club for Larry, just give him the best knowledge I had, he still had to perform.

Same for Tom. I couldn't help him in any way until he was ready, and if any of you have lived around a person of addiction, you understand. If you need a "model" think of the actor Robert Downey, who is in prison because he couldn't overcome his drug addiction.

But I had the INFORMATION and KNOWLEDGE to help them both. I felt my obligation was to do all that I could in my position at the time.

I know that most people are addicted to being average and ordinary. They shoot for mediocrity and they achieve it.

That is not a judgement nor condemnation, just an observation, feel free to challenge it.

But I have INFORMATION and KNOWLEDGE that can help those people who don't yet know what they want, or don't have a clue on how to obtain what they want.

That is the REASON for SOWPUB and the SQUARE ONE WORKSHOPS.

Now please note this: this site belongs to Dien Rice. He has paid for it. He owns it. I'm just a contributor, the first of many writers he will publish.

Perhaps you will be one of them.

My philosophy is that WE is better than I. Most of the time anyhow, HA!

This is a COLLABORATIVE effort. Remember that word, collaborate, you'll be hearing it a lot in the near future.

There is a way, a method, a technique, whatever you want to call it, to gain control over your life.

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT.
EXECUTE YOUR PLAN TO GET IT.

DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.

Simplistic? Yes of course, remember I am a simple minded guy. For those of you that are new to my style, my writings, my musings and rants will soon come to realize the truth of this.

I'm excited and looking forward to seeing SOWPUB grow. It is a good seed planted in a good medium with good caretakers.

Thanks to you who have become one of the caretakers here.

Share your experiences, state your opinion, do verbal battle (on the adult level) and contribute your KNOWLEDGE and your experience. It is important to someone who will read it.

You may not glowing THANK YOUs and at times may even get discouraged that NO one cares what you have to say, that will never be true here, cause Dien and I care.

The reason I chose to go with Dien Rice is because he made a special trip to Ohio to meet me. Before we sealed the deal, he had questions.

I told Dien there were no boundaries, to ask what he wanted. He had some concerns about my conflicts with other people on the Internet. I showed him those were minor to the conflicts I have with REAL PEOPLE, ha!

He asked questions. I showed him around town. He spent his OWN money to meet me. He didn't want to be under any obligation, after all, he has read some of my writings on influence...

I like the scientist in him. He won't accept fluff for an answer. He is analytical, about things I could never hope to understand.

He is a Quantum Physicist and will continue his research in his field as he grows SOWPUB to something special.

I want you to know we have a mutual respect for each other, but make no mistake about it,

THIS IS DIEN RICE'S SITE, not mine. I'm only the first stage rocket to get it off the ground.

In a year or two, I hope to have a minor role here and some of you will have taken on bigger roles.

I encourage you all to be thinking about developing an EDUCATIONAL product of some sort (did you read BYBA?)...Dien will be publishing some pretty fascinating stuff in the next year.

Thank you all for your time attention, and I'd like to end my first "story post" with my trademark Triadigm (I made that word up)

DOUBT IS THE SHADOW OF FEAR
CONFIDENCE IS THE REFLECTION OF EXPERIENCE

ACTION IS THE REVELATION OF FAITH.

Both Tom and Larry take whatever action they need to in order to achieve their personal goals.

We hope you'll take some action on yours too, after all, you were put here for more than just consumption, you can and should also CONTRIBUTE.

Thanks,

Gordon Alexander

PS. WE!

Copyright � 2000 Gordon J. Alexander and Seeds of Wisdom Publishing, All Rights Reserved