The newest James Bond movie was released this past week on DVD and Blue Ray. As is so often the case, multiple Bond movies have been and are being featured on television to accompany this newest release. Now I am not for one moment championing the morality of this fictional spy character. He certainly leaves much to be desired in this aspect.
But when author Ian Fleming created the fictitious James Bond in the years right after World War Two, he initially based his protagonist, in large part, on the exploits of actual agents during that greatest of all conflicts.
Fleming also struck a responsive chord with a world in the midst of a newfound “Cold War” in the 1950’s. For this reason, his spy novels sold like proverbial “hot cakes”. Indeed, we are told that President John F. Kennedy was always including the latest Bond novel on his reading list. It was practically inevitable, therefore, that Fleming’s Bond novels would eventually be made into movies for the big screen.
Needless to say, many Hollywood production companies wanted in on the matter. But the one that eventually won out was called EON Productions, run by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. They believed so strongly in the possibility for success for the Bond movies that they staked everything they had financially on their new production company. In fact, EON Productions stands for “Everything or Nothing”.
Of course, we now know that their big gamble paid off. To date, the Bond franchise has been around for over 50 years, having now produced 23 films, and long ago surpassed the actual number of Bond stories produced by Ian Felming himself. This makes the James Bond franchise the single most successful movie series of all time.
Altogether, the Bond films have taken in a cumulative box office gross of nearly $11 Billion, and that on a cumulative production budget of only $1.5 Billion. (And this figure does not include the proceeds from rentals and/or digital sales.)
The lesson in all of this should be readily apparent. It is important to have vision in one’s life. Famed author Margaret E. Sangster once said, “Dreaming and seeing always precede doing.” Millennia earlier, wise old King Solomon had already grasped this principle. At no time in her history did the nation of Israel thrive like she did under his leadership. And what was his admonition? Simply this: “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Proverbs 29:18)
In light of this, what does your future look like? Do you have a vision for your tomorrow? If not, what will your tomorrow entail? It will always be important for you and I to take control of our future, or else our future will take control of us!
And once a vision for tomorrow has been secured, we must then be prepared to see it through until it becomes a reality. That may sound easy at first; but it may not always be so. It may mean taking a little risk, and then undertaking a little hard work. It will certainly mean having a little tenaciousness.
But for those who do have a vision, and who are prepared to work hard to see that vision realized, the future is bright, boundless, and perhaps even bountiful. For those without a vision, or without the wherewithal to see their vision through, there simply is no future. And they themselves will surely perish.
So, what does your tomorrow look like?! Take a moment to look it over. Don't like what you see? Then maybe, just maybe, right now is the time to do something about it! Now, envision that!
But when author Ian Fleming created the fictitious James Bond in the years right after World War Two, he initially based his protagonist, in large part, on the exploits of actual agents during that greatest of all conflicts.
Fleming also struck a responsive chord with a world in the midst of a newfound “Cold War” in the 1950’s. For this reason, his spy novels sold like proverbial “hot cakes”. Indeed, we are told that President John F. Kennedy was always including the latest Bond novel on his reading list. It was practically inevitable, therefore, that Fleming’s Bond novels would eventually be made into movies for the big screen.
Needless to say, many Hollywood production companies wanted in on the matter. But the one that eventually won out was called EON Productions, run by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. They believed so strongly in the possibility for success for the Bond movies that they staked everything they had financially on their new production company. In fact, EON Productions stands for “Everything or Nothing”.
Of course, we now know that their big gamble paid off. To date, the Bond franchise has been around for over 50 years, having now produced 23 films, and long ago surpassed the actual number of Bond stories produced by Ian Felming himself. This makes the James Bond franchise the single most successful movie series of all time.
Altogether, the Bond films have taken in a cumulative box office gross of nearly $11 Billion, and that on a cumulative production budget of only $1.5 Billion. (And this figure does not include the proceeds from rentals and/or digital sales.)
The lesson in all of this should be readily apparent. It is important to have vision in one’s life. Famed author Margaret E. Sangster once said, “Dreaming and seeing always precede doing.” Millennia earlier, wise old King Solomon had already grasped this principle. At no time in her history did the nation of Israel thrive like she did under his leadership. And what was his admonition? Simply this: “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Proverbs 29:18)
In light of this, what does your future look like? Do you have a vision for your tomorrow? If not, what will your tomorrow entail? It will always be important for you and I to take control of our future, or else our future will take control of us!
And once a vision for tomorrow has been secured, we must then be prepared to see it through until it becomes a reality. That may sound easy at first; but it may not always be so. It may mean taking a little risk, and then undertaking a little hard work. It will certainly mean having a little tenaciousness.
But for those who do have a vision, and who are prepared to work hard to see that vision realized, the future is bright, boundless, and perhaps even bountiful. For those without a vision, or without the wherewithal to see their vision through, there simply is no future. And they themselves will surely perish.
So, what does your tomorrow look like?! Take a moment to look it over. Don't like what you see? Then maybe, just maybe, right now is the time to do something about it! Now, envision that!