Oct
Tropical Life
Am I good enough?
I was watching the Oprah Winfrey Network two-hour special about the First Graduating Class: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. As they were interviewing the 72 young girls to see which ones would get in, one of them asked Oprah straight out “Am I good enough?” She had a hard time spitting the words out, you could tell she was hesitant to hear the answer. Of course Oprah told her she was and you could see the relief wash over her.
That part of the show really caught my attention and I can say I know many people who have quietly asked themselves that question at one time or another including myself. Being dyslexic, I find myself challenged almost daily by things I “should have learned in school” but didn’t. It is all to easy to feel not good enough because you did not fit inside the school system parameters. Thankfully I do not feel that way very often and have learned to deal with my short circuited brain. I am happy with the way my life turned out, and although I can say I wish I had done better in school and was not quite so ADD, I would not change a thing.
Another part of the show that also put life in perspective was when the girls got to the school for the first time and were being shown the dorm area. The thing that absolutely excited them the most was the bathrooms and the idea of having running water and showers. In the beginning they even had to set a time limit on showers which is not surprising as many of them had had to walk up to a mile to get water and had been been living with shack outhouses or nothing. This part and the visuals reminded me of San Mateo [link is to a great Morgan Freeman video, he was the narrator told the story of San Mateo]
A few other things Oprah said during the show that I liked.
– There is no bar.
– You never rise any higher than the way you see yourself.
– Keep moving forward.
– As smart as you are you don’t know what you don’t know.
– Follow your instinct, when you do what you know is right you will always come out ok.
My 2 cents – Keep focused on your desired outcome and keep your eye on the prize.
[divide style=”2″]I was laying in bed staring out the window at the sunrise clouds this morning and thinking how nice a pic they would make but staying horizontal won, so I am posting a cool sunset picture instead.
Actually it was spelled Coulmbus that I saw. lol@funky cloud formation.10, one to change the light bulb and 9 to misread the manual.
How many lightbulbs does it take to change a dyslexic Dr Al? 🙂
It was me. And it was spelled Coulumbus. Which I thought was some funky cloud formation. How many dyslexics does it take to light a change bulb Laurie? 🙂
True Charlotte. It is funny right after writing this I had someone point out I had dyslexically spelled Columbus day wrong in my title which does not have spell check 🙂
I guess we all have a time in our lives when we have self doubt. I had some regrets too, but I have managed to live in the here and now and be thankful, work hard, be a good preson and not compare myself based on other’s accomplishments.