A  reporter came to see Thomas Edison, and the reporter said

Mr Edison when are your going to give up this obsession with the electric lamp. You have failed over 5,000 times trying to make an electric lamp work, and everybody knows that gas lamps are the future. 

Edison Replied

Dear chap you are sadly misguided, I have not failed 5,000 times, I have purely found 5,000 ways in which the electric lamp will not work, which means I am 5,000 ways nearer to finding the solution. 

It took Edison almost 10,000 experiments but finally he invented a light bulb and circuit which is the basis for lighting today.   

Edison subsequently amassed a record 1,093 US patents, which even today is more than any other inventor 

I'm sure that you can  think of loads of great messages from this story. For me, my inspiration is when someone tells me;  I'm not qualified, its too difficult or I'm on the wrong track, even though my gut says I'm not, I'll take the time to think what would Edison think if he were me 

Have a great week lighting up your future,

till next week 

David

An  Interesting  Edison Fact 

Edison amassed a record 1,093 patents covering key innovations and minor improvements in wide range of fields, including telecommunications, electric power, sound recording, motion pictures, primary and storage batteries, and mining and cement technology.  He experimented over 15,000 time trying to extract rubber for commercial use and his method is still the basis for the rubber industry even today. However interestingly he isn't credited with the first lamp bulb, but his lamp was the first one practical for home use. Humphrey Davy (A Brit!) actual invested electric light almost 70 years earlier in 1801. More information can be found here if you interested.