The “Self-Made” Man

There is no such thing as a self-made man.  We are made up of thousands
of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind of deed for us, or spoken
one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the makeup of our
character and of our thoughts, as well as our success."
                                                                                                    -George Burton Adams

I just came back from an amazing trip to China, where I did some speaking and met some wonderful people.

Going outside of your home, community, culture and country, stretches
your comfort zone and give you a sense of who you are. We don’t know
what black is until you see white. Don’t know what tall is, until you
experience short. In the same way I learned about being an American,
by  experiencing how other people around the world live their lives on the other side of the globe.

We live in an infant of a country– only 250 years. China has had a contiguous culture for millenia. Its richness astounds me.

One thing I heard on the trip is that centuries ago, many Chinese
authors, especially followers of Buddhism, would routinely publish
their own books, not in their own name, but in
that of the person who most influenced them, be it a mentor or
teacher.

It made me thing about myself and my culture. As an Author myself, i
thought about who was the "true" author of my books and life. My mother
and father (God rest their souls), wonderful sister, best friend Lois
Geller, as well as authors including Dale Carnegie have
influenced my life in ways I cannot begin to mention.

There really are no self-made (wo)men. We build on the learnings,
teachings, writings and experiences of the ones we hold most dear. They are the authors of the book of our life.

Who is the author of your book?