He was born with no left arm but that never stopped him from pursuing typical activities as a kid. He loved karate...everything about it. He watched karate movies on TV and asked his mom for permission to take karate lessons. When he went to sign up only the karate master was at the studio. The master looked the boy up and down and noticed he was missing his left arm. He asked the boy if he was willing to train hard, and they began private lessons. For one week straight the master taught the boy one move and one move only. They continued to practice this same move for an entire month. At the end of the first month the boy told the karate master that he loved the "move," but he asked when he would teach him a new move. The master looked at him and said, "I am only teaching you one move because that's the only move you will ever need to know. Be patient and keep practicing this move."
At the end of the second month, the master signed the boy up for a karate tournament. The kid was scared as he would be going up against teenagers with much more experience...surely they knew more than one move. The day of the event, the boy stood on the mat and stared at his first opponent. His opponent looked him up and down and noticed he was missing his left arm. He smiled and when the match started he charged the boy. Without even thinking, the boy used his move and he won his match. In fact he won the next four matches and at the end of the day he found himself in the final round, fighting for the championship. His final opponent looked the boy up and down, and just like all the others before him, he smiled and charged at the boy. Even though he was scared, the boy used his move and he won the match...he won the tournament.
In the car ride home, the boy was depressed. He looked at his karate master and asked him if the other kids felt sorry for him. Did they let him win? The master looked at him and said, "You won for two reasons. First, thanks to your patience and hard work, you have practically mastered one of the most difficult moves in karate. And second, the ONLY known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your LEFT arm!
Did that kid have a winning strategy or what? With hard work and patience, there was no way he could lose. Many of us want instant success. We expect our dreams to come true with the blink of an eye or the wave of a wand. The secret to making your dreams come true one day is to work on them every day. I've been going to a fitness center the last few months and I've been lifting weights multiple times a week. I've learned that as soon as you stop exercising your muscles, they atrophy. This means they shrink back in size. The same is true for your dreams. If you don't regularly pursue your passions then your mind atrophies and your dreams shrink in size. Keep this winning formula in mind while pursuing your dreams...Passion+Practice+Patience=Success.
In 1923, the idea to sculpt the image of four US Presidents into the side of a mountain in South Dakota was conceived. An historian by the name of Doane Robinson is credited with the idea to help promote tourism and to celebrate America's first 150 years. The location selected was Mount Rushmore and it took 14 years and 400 people to blast 450,000 tons of rock and granite from the mountainside. Often using dynamite, the sculptors carefully carved the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. In an interview, the lead sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was asked what he thought of the finished work. He commented that he thought Washington's nose was just a little too big but not to worry, thanks to erosion, in around 10,000 years it will be just perfect. Now that's patience!
Each day, every day, keep your dreams in front of you and work toward them. Have patience and keep practicing and you won't have to wait 10,000 years...you are perfect just the way you are!
Until next week...
Live Your Dreams!
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