From a young age, I was drawn to watching other people succeed. How can this happen you ask... It was very easy for me. It started off small like letting people win at games, races, and even in tests.
I knew my capabilities and my own talents but winning myself never gave me the satisfaction that watching someone else win did. I was very good at everything I did and I didn't always need to win.
And believe me, I did it all. Sports, dancing, art, writing, and music, and I even played in all-boys teams.
"I have always been gifted with a level of personal success because I have a natural ability to want to learn and then become the best."
I guess that is what many call "Drive". My heart gets set on something and I just don't stop... Puzzles are a great example, find words. I won't stop until they are complete.
The biggest highlight for me was at an athletics carnival I was the second-fastest runner in the entire school for a short distance and incredibly hard to beat...
After many years of being so successful, I walked past a mother and daughter talking about the up-and-coming race. Her mother was saying things you wouldn't normally say to a child. They weren't encouraging words at all...
My heart sank because I knew how it felt to be that girl... To be pushed even though what I did was more than enough. I guess there are some people out there that don't understand the importance of good parenting.
So, here I am at the starting line... All the other girls had spikes (running shoes) on. I always ran in bare feet! My parents couldn't afford those sorts of things plus I had a thing for feeling the ground under my feet.
And here she was right beside me the girl who was always running up behind me... My heart just sank. She trained, did little athletics, her parents gave her so many opportunities and here I was with no training or experience just a driven heart.
I am not sure at what point I made the decision to fall down I truly believe it was right before I took the dive. But it was quick.
That is right I took a dive... I knew that if there was ever going to be an opportunity to help her it was now and in this moment! It cost me the race but gave her the win she needed and dream about.
I remember looking up from the ground watching her look back at me.... I will never forget her face... She won! Her mother ran up to her and hugged her. They both cried and were smiling.
She needed that, they needed that more than I ever needed to win. I hoped that moment brought them closer together, gave a mother belief in her daughter she didn't have before and a young girl hopes to know she could do anything...
Her mother said, "You did it!" "I am so proud of you!" It was right then that I knew my decision was the right one. Those kinds of moments do something to you and they are addictive....
To see the face of someone that is truly happy you just can't buy that shit! It sticks with you constantly filling your heart and soul with a joy nothing else can bring. Even today I still get the overwhelming feeling of that day. Goosebumps and all. The smile never leaves my face either...
I gave and still, today give moments like that to people. It could be something so small. Everyone deserves a moment in their life when they are on top of the world. They are a winner and they finally get to have something they have only dreamed of...
If I can have a hand in seeing that you can bet your arse I'll be there! There is no greater gift to me than bringing joy into someone's life who not only needs it but deserves it too. "Success Through Others"
Success Through Others...
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