It's Never Too Late

© 2003 Boaz Rauchwerger

If we're honest, we all have moments when we regret not having achieved more in our lives.

What if you found yourself, at the age of 65, looking back at a long string of disappointments? What if all you had to show for many different efforts throughout your life was a monthly social security check of $105?

However, what if you had a dream and the drive of H.S? We'll call him by his initials for the moment. His story is simply amazing.

Let's take a close look at the road he took those first 60+ years. There wasn't much fanfare in Henryville, Indiana, on September 9, 1890, when he was born. Things did not go well in his childhood. When H.S. was six, his father died. As a result of his mother going to work to support the family, he had to take care of his three-year-old brother and a baby sister. That meant doing much of the family cooking. By the age of seven, he had mastered several regional dishes.

His first job came at the age of ten. He worked on a nearby farm for $2 a month. When he was twelve, he dropped out of school and took to the road. There was a series of jobs that he didn’t like. He was a farmhand at fourteen, a streetcar conductor at fifteen and, at the age of sixteen, he lied about his age so he could enroll in the army for a year.

Without much success through his 20’s and 30’s, H.S. worked as a blacksmith, a railroad fireman with the Southern Railroad, studied law by correspondence, practiced in justice of the peace courts, sold insurance, operated an Ohio River steamboat ferry, sold tires and operated service stations.

With nothing working, including a marriage, H.S. felt as if he couldn’t win. And time was marching on. At one time or another, that happens to all of us. It’s not the situation that matters. It’s how we react to it that makes the difference between people who give up and those who eventually come out on top.

It was in Corbin, Kentucky, that H.S., feeling sorry for hungry travelers that would stop by his service station, started cooking meals for them. He was forty at the time. There was no formality about this. He served these folks at his own dining table in the living quarters of his service station. Do keep in mind that he started his cooking career at home when he took care of his brother and sister.

Apparently it was cooking in which he excelled. As more people stopped by for the food, H.S. took over a restaurant across the street. It seated 142 people. During the next nine years, he perfected a number of dishes. One of them was especially popular because of a unique combination of herbs and spices that H.S. created.

All was well until the early 1950’s. That’s when a new interstate highway was built. It bypassed the town of Corbin and brought yet another H.S. effort to an end. He closed his restaurant and auctioned off all the equipment.

It was shortly thereafter that H.S. received his first Social Security check - $105. That did it. He had had it. There were many challenges throughout his life and now the Government was telling him that he was old, that it was time for him to give up and retire.

Starting in 1952, H.S. decided that the one dish his visitors at the service station loved could be enjoyed by many people. He started traveling across the country, living much of the time in his car, and preparing that dish for restaurant owners and employees. Over a thousand of the first prospects said “No, thank you.” Then somebody said, “Yes.”

By 1964, H.S. had franchised more than 600 outlets in the US and Canada for his special dish. It was in that year that he sold his interest in the U.S. company for $2 million and became a spokesman for the company. A 1976 survey showed that H.S. was ranked as the world’s second most recognizable celebrity.

The business that H.S. started in that service station in Corbin, Kentucky, is now part of the world’s largest restaurant company with thousands of outlets in countries worldwide.

Keep in mind that all this was started by 65-year-old Colonel Harland Sanders who was flat broke and used his $105 Social Security check to start Kentucky Fried Chicken. It’s never too late to create magic in our lives. This is a great day to start.

A Daily Action Affirmation

This is a great day to create magic in my life. I will start immediately.