QUOTE of the WEEK:
"Do not let what you cannot do
interfere with what you can do."
John Wooden
STORY for YOUR WEEK:
Your Weakness
By Author Unknown
This is a story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the Sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the Sensei intervened. "No," the Sensei insisted, "Let him continue."
Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.
On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"
"You won for two reasons," the Sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."
The boy's greatest weakness had become his greatest strength.
The moral of the story – We sometimes allow our weaknesses to be our downfall rather than using them to our advantage. We tell ourselves we cannot do something because we do not feel it is our strength. But, if we didn't dwell on our weaknesses, we may find that we could succeed. The story reminds me of the quote by Thomas Edison, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." We tend to give up rather than persevere. We all need to be reminded that sometimes what we perceive as our weakness could actually turn out to be our strength.
QUOTES for YOUR WEEK:
"It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities."
Eric Hoffer
"It's the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles."
Claude M. Bristol
"You are the only real obstacle in your path to a fulfilling life."
Les Brown
"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
Sir Edmund Hillary
"As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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