How Charles Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol' came into being - A note on 'contribution to society'

Recently, the Covey Leadership Center participated with the local PBS station in making available to the Public Broadcasting System a video dramatization we developed and filmed in England. The central figure in this remarkable story is an Englishman who transcended a childhood spent as a street urchin to become a reasonably successful writer with a nice home and a loving family. At the time of the story, however , he had reached a point where he was experiencing “writer’s block.” For some time, he had been unable to feel inspired in his writing. It seemed his creativity had turned off. His debts were mounting. He was under tremendous pressure from the publisher. He was becoming more and more depressed with a growing fear that his own children would end up on the streets like so many he saw around . . . like he, himself, had as a youth. He was discouraged. He couldn’t sleep. He began to spend his nights walking the streets of London. He saw the poverty, the inhumane conditions of children working nights in the factories, the terrible struggle of parents trying to eke out a living for their families. Gradually , the full reality of what he was seeing began to hit him—the impact of selfishness and greed and those who would take advantage of others. An idea touched his heart and began to grow in his mind. There was something he could do that would make a difference! He returned to his writing with an energy and enthusiasm he had never known. The vision of contribution impassioned him, consumed him. He no longer felt doubt or discouragement. He didn’t worry about his own financial concerns. He wanted to get this story out, to make it as inexpensive as possible, to make it available to as many people as possible. His whole life had changed. As a result, the world was changed. Charles Dickens’s masterpiece “A  Christmas Carol” has brightened the lives of millions of people around the world. For one hundred and fifty years his vision has left a wonderful legacy of hope, warmth, and caring.

(First things first, Stephen R Covey)