Jump

I know of no one like me.

I don’t know anyone with an optimistic attitude like mine.

I don’t know anyone with a drive like mine.

I don’t know anyone with my commitment.

I don’t know anyone who holds themselves accountable like I do.

I don’t know anyone whose trained their self talk like I have.

I don’t know anyone as resilient as me.

I don’t know anyone as big as me that runs nearly as much as I do.

So, I am special!

However, I am no more special than you are.

I was once asked who was my mentor. I had to say my books were. When I was younger I was never close to anyone. I also wasn’t surrounded by great examples. Nevertheless, just because one doesn’t have a mentor or great examples around doesn’t mean all is lost.

I would love to beat myself on the chest and say that I paved my own path, but I didn’t.

The author’s of the books I read paved the path to possibilities, to self examination. My brother although far away, paved the path to discipline with his life long commitment to fitness, education and the Navy. The great story tellers I read paved the path to the reality that one can recreate oneself.

I would love to stand on a pillar and say that I am just the greatest.

However the truth is that the greatest thing I ever did was believe in myself. I was the black sheep and I had created that image by not believing in myself, by having negative self talk and by pitying myself. Of course no one was going to believe in me, I didn’t.

But one day after realizing philosophically for a long time that I could turn it all around, I did so and never looked back.

Before taking the plunge I had to talk about it with friends and work it out in my head that I could change the person whom I had created over many years. I had to come to terms that it wasn’t going to happen overnight and that it was  going to be the biggest commitment of my entire life. Hence why I say philosophically I had to work it out.

Then I became a man of action like never before. I put the horse blinders on and kept moving forward and here I am 20+ years later still running towards the man I should be no matter what man I once was.

My point is that you can start where you are with what you have with the possibility that where you are and what you have may not be much, good or ideal. Just jump!

In life every great step starts with a huge jump.