Wilma Rudolph was the twentieth of 22 children born into an impoverished black family in Tennessee. Those were the times of acute racial discrimination in the US. The blacks were underprivileged, and despite paying the same amount of taxes as the whites, they had very limited or no access to most facilities. Even the schools of the Southern states were segregated – black students and white students had to attend separate schools. The schools for black students were usually poorly funded, so they were less likely to have adequate books, teachers, classrooms, or equipment.
Wilma was determined not to let any of them hinder her success. But fate had other plans for her. As a child, she contracted polio and was forced to wear leg braces until she was nine. Her sister was in the basketball team and so she decided to join too. At twelve, she tried out for her school's basketball team and failed. For the next year she practised every day, until her knees hurt and her feet ached so bad that she could barely stand. Her hard work paid off, and at the try outs the following year, she finally made the team.
Ed Temple, a college athletics coach spotted her one day and talked her into letting him train her to be a sprinter. Her persistence earned her a scholarship to Tennessee State University where she became a track star. In 1960, she made the US Olympic team. In the 100-metre sprint she had to face Jutta Heine of Germany, the world record holder.
But Wilma won-and she did it again in the 200-metre event!
Wilma's third race was the 100-metre relay, where she again faced Jutta.
Just as the baton was handed to Wilma she dropped it, giving Jutta the lead. She had a choice there. She’d already won two gold medals and beaten Jutta at both of them. This win wouldn’t make a difference to her. And she’d already lost precious time in dropping it and picking it. Did she need to continue the race and speed up? But Wilma knew she had just one choice. To go forward and work for it. Her never-give-up spirit made her pick up the baton and take off in desperate pursuit.
She caught the German runner in the last few strides and won the third gold medal-more than any other woman had won at that time.
Wilma Rudolph, the young black woman became famous as the fastest woman in the world, and the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field in a single Olympic games.
Wilma became a grandmother and travelled the world for children's causes, motivating them with her story. 'I let them know that they can achieve it, as long as they're willing to work for it.'
Why is it that failure destroys some people, yet makes others stronger?
The secret perhaps is that they allow failure to become their teacher, and turn their defeats into learning experiences. When we’re faced with a roadblock, overcoming it depends not so much on how well things work in our favour, but on how much we are willing to work to achieve that goal. How we choose to see that roadblock – as the end of the road, or as a stepping stone to our success.
89 years ago, one man had a dream. A dream that most people did not value enough. They told him it’s tough, it won’t work out, that he’d better give up on it. But he chose to pursue that dream, not just for himself, but for everyone who was a part of that dream. Yes, the dream I'm talking about is Toastmasters and the man is none other than Ralph C. Smedley. He dreamed a dream of bringing out the orator in every shy speaker he met. He believed that we are all diamonds, diamond that are rough; but with a little bit of polish, we’d shine bright through the night. The movement he started in 1924 in the basement of a YMCA building caught on, and today, it’s spread over 116 countries and is growing by the minute. He achieved his dream because he worked for it.
Imagine a world in which you were to get everything you wanted without even asking for it. Would you value it as much then? I remember as a child my parents, as a joke, told us they’d give us money for every house hold task we’d do. Minimal amounts, but we were excited. I never used that money since I never really had need for it. But the fact remains that since I had worked for it, I valued it.
I was watching a video recently in which different genres of people were asked what they would do if they were given a Rs. 500 /- note. The video started with the affluent who felt 500 was too small an amount to do anything worthwhile. It moved on to the middle class people who said they’d watch a movie or go bowling or go for an outing. It finally moved on to the lower class and kids of the slum. Their answers were filled with “I’ll get new shoes for my brother”, “I’ll buy provisions for the house”, “I’ll get school books for all the kids in my class”. The same note, but the value it had for each of them was different.
In the same way, no one knows the true value of your dreams except you. There will always be people who will tell you “It’s a stupid dream”, “It’s not possible”, or “It’s too hard”, “You’re wasting your time”. But remember, it’s your dream not theirs, so it’s up to you to put in the work to make that dream a reality. Even a diamond is just a stone... until it is polished. And then it’s true worth is known. If you’re willing to work for it, nothing is impossible. And frankly, if it was that easy to achieve, would you even value such a dream? It probably wouldn’t even have been your dream in the first place! It’s because of the amount of work involved that it is your dream! There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little ‘extra’. Every “overnight success” has several nights of hard work and sweat behind it.
All the so-called "secrets of success" will not work unless you do. Thomas Jefferson put it very aptly when he said “The harder I work, the more luck I have”. So Dream your dream, and then be ready to WORK FOR IT.
