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The Greatest Pleasure In Life

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do" ~ Author Unknown

I love how people can so easily tell you that you cannot do something, that you'll never be able to achieve something, accomplish something, or get somewhere... I tell you, if the world was just a slightly more positive place, then things in life could, or rather, would be so much better. A little more cheering on the sidelines can go a long long way...

Last year I went to a conference, "Fearless 2011" and the amazing Gary Skinner stood up and told us the most incredible true story about a few small children taking part in the special olympics...

"A couple of years ago one of the little guys in our Church was invited to participate in the special olympics. Obviously the special olympics are for boys and girls, teenagers and adults who have disibilities. This little guy had down syndrome. One of the events that took place that year was the 100m sprint for boys and girls aged 11. Eight little disabled 11 year olds got down at the starting blocks, the starters pistol was ready, the massive crowd went silent. And when the pistol went off the little boys and girls burst out of the blocks, ah sort of. Then they ran down that track just as hard as their little legs could carry them, you could see the strain in their faces as they were running, trying to reach that finish line first! And as they were running, one of the little boys near the front tripped, and he fell, and he went down on the rough track, and he cut his knee, and he cried out in pain. One by one, each of the boys and girls who were running when they saw their friend fall, they each slowed down, stopped, turned around, and went back to their fallen friend. Got down beside him. One of the little girls wiped the blood from his knee, kissed it and said, "There, it's all better now". And then they all got up, joined their arms, and they all walked across the finish line together. Spontaneously, that massive crowd lept to its feet, and gave them the longest standing ovation of the special olympics for that year. For 15 minutes they clapped and they cheered and they howled and they hooted and whistled, as 8 little disabled 11 year olds showed the whole world that winning in life is not crossing the finish line first, but loving and caring for those that have fallen along the way, picking them up, and making winners out of them too." ~ Gary Skinner (Fearless 2011, 06 Nov '11, Liberty Church Randburg)

People in the world, I believe, are very focused on themselves, on their own success. And they lose sight of what is going on around them. I feel we all need to take a step back and look towards the bigger picture. People in South Africa keep saying that our country is going backwards, but just think about it: Our country has so much potential, has so much to offer the world. Our country has the power to change the world. And I think we are on that road, but we can only make a success of it, if, we all work together.

No one is saying it's going to be an easy task, I mean look at all the struggles we have been through to get to where we are today. But I believe we can do it.

Download the whole Gary Skinner story from "Fearless 2011" and more as a podcast here

#Gary Skinner #Help #Hope #Inspiration #Life #Olympics #South Africa #True Story #Truth #Strength