I would never compare myself to John Stephen Akhwari but I understand his need to keep going to the bitter end, no matter what the pain, no matter whether there is anyone there to see you finish, no matter what obstacles are in front of you.
The work I do as I push on with my projects is not heroic and no one will be telling inspirational stories about it (apart from me, to my grandkids one day, maybe) and there are thousands doing the same out there. Plodding along when they just want to stop, when they can give themselves every reason to just lay down and let everything go.
Some do stop of course, and curse themselves later that they fell behind.
Some stop with great excuses and never start again, because they have “a good reason”.
Some though (like me at the moment), might slow to a walk, putting one foot in front of the other, very very slowly, but they are still moving forward.
John Stephen Akhwari has always been my hero, from the time my father told me about him when I was a small child. Every sports program over the years that would show his journey of pain and triumph would inspire me to never ever quit.
Even now, 35+ years later, when I watch this footage I am reduced to sobbing and a feeling of such humility. It is easy to lay down and make excuses, but easy is rarely the way to success.
Planned and executed my exit from the corporate world. Walked away with a 6 figure payment to boot.
Wow.
That’s one man – and one quote – I’ll be keeping in mind whenever I consider giving up.
Thanks for the inspiration, Allison.
Great stuff Allison. We all need to remind ourselves of this. It can be so easy to give in to complacency.
Even if it is small, slow steps for a while we are nevertheless still moving in the direction of our dreams. That’s still more than a lot of people can say. Kudos to you.