Can You Carry a Message to Yourself?
First you must decide, then you must be willing. Finally, you have to remember where to find yourself.
“If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all?”
Elbert Hubbard wrote,“A Message to Garcia,” in 1899. Hubbard gave us a dramatized version of 1st Lt. Andrew S. Rowan’s mission to meet with General Calixto García, commander of the rebel forces in Eastern Cuba, at the start of the Spanish-American war. The wisdom lesson, Hubbard’s call for personal ownership and individual initiative. The short essay was reprinted perhaps millions of times in pamphlets and miniature hardbound books and distributed far and wide. It proved to be resolute with multitudes. In fact, the phrase “to carry a message to Garcia” became a common idiom for fulfilling any difficult task and remained in use throughout the 20th century. The essay itself is still passed around in military circles today. You can find the essay in its entirety here.
As the story is told the mission was simple: carry the message to General Garcia, Rowan simply takes it and in 3 nights time delivers it to the jungles of Cuba. He is not told with specificity where Gen. Garcia is, in fact he asks no questions. Rowan is given the task and he simply goes and executes. He figures it out, sets his own path and commits to the mission. And…
