The Thirty Day Year

Who Do You Think You Are?

I tend to admire people who have overcome great odds and still come out successful.  One trait that these people share is that they did so without surrendering their principles, their beliefs, or the core of who they were.  If they had, they would not be admirable. In fact, each of those who comes to mind expanded on that core, developed their belief in their values while they developed the talent and tenacity which would carry them to success in their future.

Two people who immediately come to mind are Oprah Winfrey and Shania Twain.

I love Oprah.  Her show helps millions everywhere, her website is great (check it out at www.Oprah.com.  I can spend literally hours there! ).

I admire her most because she took herself from her humble beginnings and made an incredible life for herself.  She is successful in every way I can think of, yet (because?) she has never given up her principles, or the truth of who she is.  Anyone who can emerge from a childhood of poverty and abuse in such a grand fashion must be admired for that alone.  I love the integrity she brings to a job which could have been done without it, although not nearly so well.  I think her integrity, her values, and her acceptance and living of her truth, are some of the reasons she has had such longevity in a business where you can last as long as your average Hollywood marriage.  Just by being who she is, and coming from where she came from, she makes us all believe that we can make a difference, in our lives, in the lives of others. Plus, with her weight-loss success, she lets us all know that that, too, is something we can achieve. 

Shania Twain has also risen from a life begun in poverty, in my own great country of Canada. Early on in her life, she cared for her siblings, and worked diligently to build her talent, to breathe life into a dream of being a singing star.  Early in her country music career, she faced the scorn of some of her fellow performers, who, like many others, were not quick to embrace the change which her type of music signalled was coming. And yet, in every interview I have seen of her, she comes across as nice, and as genuine, which I love.  Who says nice girls finish last? Who would have thought that a poor little girl from Timmins, Ontario, would spend much of her adult life living her dream in a castle?

I admire these two because they have beaten incredible odds to do great things in their lives.  And each has given back to the world, many times over.

How did they do it?

Each believed in their ability to do what they set out to do, in spite of the opinions of others.

Each beat incredible odds to achieve what they set out to do.

Each remained true to who they were inside of themselves, no matter what others may have told them.

Have you?

What odds and misfortunes have you battled in your past, to get you to where you are today?  Are you battling now? Do you see yourself as a success? Or a victim of circumstances. Are you able to claim full responsibility for your life, or do you lay the responsibility on others, on circumstances. While you may not be able to control what happens to you, especially in your youth, you can do something about the way you react to what happens, and has happened, now.  And what you do about what has gone on before.

 Although able to overcome the poverty of their youth, both Oprah and Shania could have easily blamed the world in which they were raised, but that is not what they did.

It is my hope and belief that each of us is born with something inside of ourselves, some tiny spark that, if polished and shined, can one day make a difference.  In our lives.  In the lives of others around us.  Perhaps even in the lives of many, across the world.

A lot depends on who you think you are–victim, or victor.  Do you think you are capable of having a better life–really, truly, do you believe it?

Because you must believe first and foremost that you can, before you set out to pursue what you dream. 

“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from.  The ability to triumph begins with you.  Always.” - Oprah Winfrey

Who do you admire?  Why?