Thomas Carlyle wrote “The History of the French Revolution” by hand before computers or even typewriters existed. After three years of writing and lengthy research, he had a fifteen-hundred-page manuscript. He gave his finished work to John Stuart Mills to edit and proofread. Mills put the manuscript in a basket so he could work on it in the evenings by firelight. While he was on a trip, his maid saw the stack of paper and thought it was there to help start the fire. The entire manuscript was destroyed by the time John Stuart Mills returned.
When Thomas Carlyle found out about this, he went into a deep depression. He drew the blinds on his house and refused to eat. After a couple of weeks, he opened one of the blinds. Across the street he saw a man working on a brick wall that had broken down in front of an old church. For three weeks, eight hours a day, Carlyle watched the man rebuild that wall, one brick at a time. When the wall was rebuilt, it looked as good as new.
“If he can rebuild that wall brick by brick,” Carlyle said, “I can rebuild my manuscript page by page.” He began to write, and within two years he finished it. Today Thomas Carlyle’s “The History of the French Revolution” is a classic of historical literature.
If you have lost something valuable, you may have to start all over again. Begin with your original calling. That will give you direction for the rest.
Wayne Cordeiro, “Leading on Empty”
