Attitude Determines Success - The Lily And The Rose

Attitude determines just how much success or otherwise you get from life. Success depends on making the most of your abilities, and how you do that depends in turn on how you see the world and your place in it.

This story is about two classmates - they're real people, and I'm only allowed to tell you about them if I change their names, so we'll call them Rose and Lily.

As children, they were both creative. Rose loved music, and she spent her spare time learning all she could about it, finding chords on a guitar that was too big for her, and writing songs. Her great dream was to be a singer.

Lily spent her spare time drawing. She took a sketch-pad everywhere, and every chance she got she'd fill it with her pictures - horses, mainly, with long, flowing manes, and tails that streamed behind them in the wind. They seemed about to leap out from the page. She dreamed of being an artist some day.

Neither family had much money, so there was no question of art or singing lessons. In fact, both families were so concerned their girls should have secure employment that they actively discouraged both their daughters' dreams.

Lily left school as quickly as she could, and got a job in a bank. For the first time, she really had some money. She bought herself some nice clothes, and went out a lot. When Rose suggested she could now afford to take a part-time art course, Lily said she didn't have the time.

Rose, being still at school, was an embarrassment to Lily, so she didn't see much of her for a while. Wrapped up in her music as she was, Rose didn't really notice, anyway.

Rose had discovered something interesting - the Internet. Singing lessons, she soon learned, were available quite easily online, and there were lots of tips she could download. She bought a course, and started practicing for real - hour after hour in her bedroom, learning, practicing, exploring chords and writing songs.

The Church she went to had a choir, which she hadn't thought that she was good enough to join, so she was startleded when the guy who ran it approached her one day and said, 'I need an extra singer, and you have a good voice - will you join us?'

Rose was thrilled, and practiced even harder. She called Lily to tell her the good news. Lily sounded disapproving.

'What on earth did you agree to that for?' she demanded. 'All that extra work - and you aren't even getting paid for it!'

Rose took no notice. Being in the Choir meant she had the chance to sing, and that was what she wanted. It also offered her the chance to gain experience, to improve her singing technique and learn to read notation fluently, without having to pay anyone for lessons - and it gave her much more confidence, as well.

After a while, she got a front-seat chance to see a local folk band. They got the audience join in with the choruses. Because by now Rose was used to projecting her voice without even thinking about it, that got her noticed. People round about her turned to stare in admiration - and there was someone else who liked her singing, too.

After the gig, the leader of the folk band sought her out, and, just like the guy who ran the Choir, he asked if she'd be interested in joining them... only, this time, the offer was for her to sing professionally.

It hasn't stopped there, either. Discovering her songs, he also asked her to collaborate with him in writing more material for the band.

Finding out she'd studied chord structures and knew how to work a musical notation program, he got her to help him with the band's arrangements, too. When she pointed out they'd need to register their copyrights, he put her in charge of collecting and administering their royalties, as well.

She suggested they could use a website, and he asked her to design one.

When she convinced him that they needed a proper management structure to make the most of their hard work, and especially to take advantage of the Internet, it didn't take him long to suggest a simple division of labour.

'I run the band,' he said. 'YOU run the company.'

That means that in effect the band now work for Rose. They don't mind. After all, they earn a lot more than they did before.

Her former classmate called Rose to congratulate her.

'You are just SO lucky,' Lily sighed. 'If you fell in the river you'd come up with a fish in every pocket!'