“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”– Dennis P. Kimbro

The love letter mailed to himself

It was the coldest summer and finally once in his life, William James had finished something on his own.It was a book titled “The Principles of Psychology“, which would later go on to lay the groundwork of American Psychology and be defined as one of the most revolutionary books of all time.But, for now William James was just another failure and was on the verge of taking his own life…

The Disastrous Life of William James

William James had problems,real bad problems….

Although brought up by a wealthy and prominent family,from birth he was a failure.When he was born, James had already been diagnosed with life threatening health issue: an eye problem that left him temporarily blind as a child,a terrible stomach condition which forced him to take up a soft and sensitive diet so that he would not die from excessive vomiting.He also had trouble hearing, had back spasms so bad that for days he couldn’t sit or stand up right.

William James as a child

And due to this health condition, it’s not that hard to figure it out the act that he had no friends and was lonely. He was not good in studies or school but had great interest in painting and it was the only thing he ever felt he was good at.

Unfortunately, nobody else thought so and soon his wealthy father started ridiculing him for his laziness and lack of talent.Meanwhile his brother Henry James,went out to become world’s renowned novelist. And to add salt into the injury,his sister,Alice would also become a good writer.

His father fed up of his son’s failure and laziness used his wealthy business connection to get him into the prestigious Harvard medical school.

William James at Harvard medical school

Lady Luck Favours No One.

But again, William never felt like he really belonged in this field of medicine.He felt like an impostor and a fake,after all,if he couldn’t solve his own problems ,how could he muster the energy to solve others problems.

Long story short he dropped out of the school and instead of dealing with his father’s wrath he did something daring and pretty stupid and signed up for an expedition to Amazon rain forest.

Anyway, William James made it all the way to the great Amazon and was ready to plunge into his first bite of adventure…….But it was as though lady luck never liked him and this was true since as soon as he arrived he contracted small pox which almost killed him and his back spasms also returned to make him partially paralysed for a few week.

The Divine Change.

By this point, the young man had turned 30 and was still a failure in everything he did , even though he had a wealthy upbringing and opportunities so great.And this proved to be his final straw. William James fell into the deep pits of depression and began his plans of commiting sucide.

Portrait of William James by John La Farge, circa 1859

But one cold night, while he was reading the lecture of Charles Pierce, he thought of a little experiment which would later change his whole life and was a turning point in human history of psychology in America.

He decided he would for 1 whole year believe he was 100% responsible for everything that has occurred to him no matter what and he would work on those each day and would not bother about the possibilities of failure.

The Punch line

The punch line??? William went on to become the father of American Psychology. His works would be translated to a bazillion languages all around the world. He would marry a beautiful wife and have 5 children, teach in Harvard University and would be one of the most influential men of his generation. He would receive many awards and finally would make his grumpy old dad happy.

We can’t control what happens to us but we always control how we interpret a situation or setback as well as how we respond to it. Even if you get to deal with the worst cards in your life,it still is your responsibility to choose how you will interpret the situation.

William James and Josiah Royce, near James’s country home in Chocorua, New Hampshire in September 1903. James’s daughter Peggy took the picture. On hearing the camera click, James cried out: “Royce, you’re being photographed! Look out! I say Damn the Absolute!”

The real question arises what will you choose?Is it based on good values or bad values?The difference between the right and the wrong values is everything. How we interpret the events in our lives, our perspective, is the framework for our forthcoming response—whether there will even be one or whether we’ll just lie there and take it.

William James took the right vaule of accountibilty and he would go deep into self improvement and soon he did came out of pits of hell and won lady luck with the worst cards ever.

The Mirror.

How has life treated you recently.Was it good or was it bad? Maybe you are having a string of bad lucks or bad situation but you need to hold on and start choosing good values, values which you can control. William James had one of worst luck in human history some of which are listed below:

Bad health condition✔️ Bad in studies and school ✔️ Barely had any friends ✔️ All of his brother and sister were doing great while he was the black sheep of the family ✔️ Got into one of best medical school and dropped out by his own will ✔️ Went on an expedition only to get small pox and return to England in worst condition than before✔️

Now if this isn’t just a perfect recipe of failure, then i dont know what is. What I want to say is that if a guy like James with this many drawbacks could rise just as a phenix rises from it’s ashes then,anyone can do it. Even you, yes you can achieve much greater things in life. Maybe you should try his little experiment of accountibility for one year and see where it takes you.

After thoughts

Thank you for reading another one of my dumb articles, I hope you are in your best health and achieve more productivity in these months of Quarantine.