Maybe You Have the Key. By Zig Ziglar

Many years ago in a beautiful cathedral in Europe, an elderly man was beautifully and skillfully playing the organ. All the music he played was of a melancholy nature because that day he was being replaced by a younger organist.

As the sun was beginning to set, the back door opened and a rather brusque young man strode into the cathedral. The elderly organist recognized his successor, arose from the bench and removed the key to the organ. The young organist approached the older one and without any preliminaries held out his hand and said, “Please. The key.” The old man slowly handed it over to him. Quickly, the young man sat down on the bench, inserted the key and began to play.

While the old man had played beautifully, professionally and with considerable skill, the young man played with genius. Incredible music filled the cathedral, the village, and even part of the countryside. The old man hesitated at the door, tears streaming down his cheeks as he realized what was happening. Softly he said to himself, “Suppose, just suppose, I had not given the master the key.” The young man was Johann Sebastian Bach.

You might never have the privilege of giving “the master the key,” but sometimes a simple word of encouragement can be the key for someone else. Remember, someone introduced Einstein to mathematics and taught him that 2+2=4. Another introduced Johann Sebastian Bach to music and taught him the scale. All of us, in many ways, influence other people. If we make that influence a good one, who knows how many “masters” we might be giving a key? Give away those “keys” and I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Zig Ziglar is known as America’s motivator. He is the author of 31 books . Check out his new book, Born to Win.