[OUTLOOK]On this day, 1+1+1+1 = a miracle

Today is the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. There are four 1’s in this date, which reminded me of the four “1 percent miracles,” which are, respectively, 1 percent hope, 1 percent success, 1 percent inspiration and 1 percent trust.
First, let me tell you a story about 1 percent hope. At the age of 25, Lance Armstrong had testicular cancer. It is said that about 49 percent of people with that cancer die. He suffered from it, but survived miraculously. The following year, 1999, he won his first Tour de France, also known as the deadly race. He won it for seven straight years. People analyzed reasons for his seven titles, which were Mr. Armstrong’s unusually strong heart and lungs and the ability of his coach, Johan Bruyneel, to make the right strategies. Another reason was perfect team play from his committed team mates.
But these three reasons are not sufficient to explain it all. There should be more. That is, Mr. Armstrong’s determination. He said, “I will ride as long as there is even a 1 percent hope.” Only a person who has experienced near-death and survived can feel the power of such a thin hope and use it.
The second story is about 1 percent success. The founder of Honda, Soichiro Honda, said, “Among what I have done, 99 percent of it was a succession of failures and only 1 percent was a success.” In the end, 1 percent success weighed more than 99 percent failure.
Born in 1906, he had little education. He went to an elementary school and that was all. He has learned that even the slightest advancement in engineering can be made only through failure.
For Mr. Honda, no failure was the same as no effort. He even made a reward called “Excellence in Failure,” and awarded 1 million yen, or $8,500, each year. He encouraged people to fail 99 percent of the time and have a 1 percent success rate. That 1 percent success, made after 99 failures, created the Honda and Japan of today.
The third story is about 1 percent inspiration. Inventor Thomas Edison said “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” Many interpret this quote as meaning perspiration is far more important than inspiration.
But this interpretation is contrary to Mr. Edison’s record, made on his 82nd birthday in 1929. He said if the first inspiration is not good, no matter how hard you may try, you will not have a good result. If you blindly try too hard, that is wasting energy. He weighed 1 percent inspiration with 99 percent of inspiration.
Even if 99 percent perspiration is loaded, if the 1 percent inspiration trigger is not pulled, the bullet will not be fired. That 1 percent inspiration is the core of work, according to him.
The fourth is about the 1 percent trust and empowerment inside us. Even if 99 percent of us are flawed, everybody has their own 1 percent that is glory. We should discover that 1 percent and trust and encourage ourselves to make that 1 percent surface. That 1 percent is the miracle we need to change our lives thoroughly.
The 11th day of the 11th month is the day to create a miracle, with the 1 percent hope, 1 percent success, 1 percent inspiration and 1 percent trust that is inside us. Let’s use this formula to make a miracle of our life today.

*The writer is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

by Chung Jin-hong