John McCain, Alone at Starbucks
Mon, April 16, 2012 | Post a Comment | 
Opportunities don’t last forever
When they show up, you'd better jump on them. Give it everything you have—because you are never guaranteed success—and they don’t last forever. If you succeed, your life can be changed in dramatic ways forever—if you miss, you lose it all. So it’s worth all the effort you can pour in because after it’s over it will be too late.
In 2006 people were sizing up the 2008 Presidential Race
John McCain spent a lot of time talking to people, making speeches and traveling the country, deciding if he had a chance.
By spring of 2007, he had made up his mind, and on April 25, 2007, he formally announced his intention to run for President of the United States.
The race was on!
Immediately, he was on an unending 24/7 treadmill, whirlwind and tornado blitz of activity. There were constant plane and bus trips. There were reporters buzzing around constantly with questions. There were interviews and appearances on TV and radio. There were fundraising events. He was everywhere—on TV, in newspapers and magazines. People fought for just a minute of his time. He was in constant demand—and not only him but his wife, his kids, his staff. He didn’t have a moment to himself, and barely had time to grab a little sleep. He was chasing his dream. He had a chance to be president and it wasn’t going to last forever.
But John didn’t run a winning campaign
The election took place on November 4, 2008 and Barack Obama was projected the winner at about 11:00 pm Eastern Standard Time; McCain delivered his concession speech in Phoenix, Arizona about twenty minutes later. It was over. Done. For 19 months he had been in the world’s spotlight. Overnight, it was gone…totally.
So where was John McCain the next morning at 9 am?
He was at Starbucks. Alone. Getting coffee. He put on his jeans, pulled on a shirt and drove himself to Starbucks. The day before that would have been impossible. Now no one was asking for his time. No TV. No radio. The circus had moved down the road and left him behind. Sad really, how fast he was forgotten.
There are winners and losers in life.
If you ever get a chance to do something special, grab it and give it everything you have, because the opportunity won’t last forever.
If you win your life can change forever, but if you lose you will quickly be forgotten and you can’t be sure you’ll ever get another chance.
Related Posts: This is the part 4 of the series, The Free Multimillion Dollar, Multimedia Reality Series on Winning: WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM ELECTIONS.
Part 1: They're Not Really Idiots
was the chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza and brought it out of bankruptcy to being a successful chain. He was the host of an Atlanta-area talk radio show called The Herman Cain Show, and is famous for using down to earth language and logic to evalutate political problems. He never saw himself a victim of racism, even though he grew up in the Jim Crow South, or let others' ideas of who he is define him. Whether you agree with him or not, you may enjoy reading about his life and his motivations for running for president of the United States.