Thinking Clearly

Sometimes it's just a matter of thinking clearly. Like the small businessman whose clothing store was threatened with extinction when a national chain store moved in and acquired all the properties on his block. This one particular businessman refused to sell. “All right then, we'll build all around you and put you out of business,” the new competitors said.

Surely -- you might think -- here is a case for warranted anger. If a hothead ever had an excuse, this was it.

The day came when the small merchant found himself hemmed in with a new department store stretching out on both sides of and above his little retail shop. The competitors now opened shop. Their banners unfurled, “Grand Opening!”

The merchant in the old store, the little store surrounded by the big bully, had a banner of his own. His banner reached across the entire width of his little store. It read, “Main Entrance.”

And just when others thought he wouldn’t survive … he thrived.