You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all aid one another, everyone wins.
In 1913, James Cleveland Owens was born into a sharecropper’s family in Alabama, and moved to Ohio when he was nine. Asked at school for his name, he gave his initials, J.C, which the teacher misunderstood as Jesse. And it was as Jesse Owens he became a world-famous athlete in track, winning four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics and setting numerous world records during his career. In his later years, Owens spoke to young students, encouraging them as he had been encouraged as a boy. “The top athletes, “he once stated, “can keep the young interested and out of trouble. They can inspire them, just as I was inspired by athletes when I was younger.” One athlete Owens credited for encouraging him was Charlie Paddock, who had won several medals in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. Later, Paddock spoke at Jesse’s school, and the young boy was spellbound. “You can be somebody,” Paddock informed his audience. “You can be anything you want to be, if you have a goal and will work hard and believe and have good moral character.” Years later, Jesse could still quote those words from memory, as a key to the enormous success he would achieve. In 1970, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and, in 1976, President Gerald Ford honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Even after his death in 1980, honors continued. President George H.W. Bush named him a recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal and, in 1996, the Jesse Owens Memorial Park opened in his hometown of Oakville, Alabama. Inscribed on a bronze plaque in the park are these words: “May his light shine forever as a symbol for all who run for the freedom of sport, for the spirit of humanity, for the memory of Jesse Owens.”
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AuthorMusings from Gammon Irons. To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind - this is a choice which is possible for us all; and surely a good haven to sail. Archives
February 2020
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