My Motivation - An Ode To Teaching
by Rick Osbourne
I never feel so strong and confident as when I’m helping kids to find their own strength and confidence. That’s my motivation with Operation Pull Your Own Weight.
In a very real sense it’s selfish. I’m doing it because I feel so good about myself when I’m doing it. The vibes of appreciation I receive when those kids get stronger and stronger, week after week, and more and more confident in their own natural abilities to set a goal and achieve it in small but relentlessly persistent increments of progress is unique in my life. Under these circumstances, I suddenly feel like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Indiana Jones, Wyatt Earp, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, and Elvis all combined in the eyes of these kids. I am unique in their lives.
If I Got This Kind of Lift From…
If I got the same kind of lift from climbing some corporate ladder, from running for public office, or from anything else, I’d be climbing a corporate ladder, running for public office, or doing something else that gives me the same amount of return on my investment of time and effort. But to date, nothing else compares.
There’s no thrill of victory like the one I experience when seeing a young boy or girl learning to say "Oh yes I can," in the face of a real challenge, tackling it with unreserved enthusiasm, giving it 110%, having learned, and knowing in their heart of hearts that if they relentlessly persist, they will inevitably cross that finish line.
In the words of the late Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never, never, never, give up!" Not quitting is one very important form of winning. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that counts.
The Moment The Catch Their First Glimpse…
