I hope you will read today’s message in full. I could change your life! And share THIS message with those you love and lead!
I received an email this week from the father of a former athlete who attended our camps at Cleveland State years ago. He asked if I would consider sharing his daughter’s story…a story I hope you will read and share with those you lead.
It is a heart-wrenching story, but today is the perfect day to share it because today we celebrate another amazing individual who persisted in the face of unimaginable challenges and in the face of death to get an important message to the world!
Katherine Peter, our former camper and now 32-year-old mother of two in the fight of her life and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are kindred spirits.
They are both fighters with a message…a message, as Katherine states “to do my small part to change the world, so perhaps at least one other young woman will demand her voice be heard.”
Sounds MLK Jr. ish, doesn’t it?
Today’s message is all about PERSISTENCE! KEEP SPEAKING UP! KEEP PUSHING!
I am finding it hard to find the words to share this message because it is SO important and the two people I am comparing have both experienced fights most of us will never experience…but we need to learn from them to help ourselves and our world!
Katherine Peters is dying. She was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer that was misdiagnosed through her pregnancy…over and over and over! She was fighting and no one was listening. Please read her full story HERE and I will ask you to do what they have asked me to do…SHARE IT!
To help others… and ourselves, we must be persistent!
Every MLK Jr. Day I am taken back to graduate school and a life-changing conversation I had with my classmate, Dr. Patricia Hill.
Pat’s family was from the South and when she visited, she was forced to drink from a “colored” drinking fountain…along with other things common in the segregated southern states. Pat is about 20 years older than me. She is beautiful, extremely intelligent and an amazing person. Most importantly, she is my friend!
When she told the story, I was enraged…and I cried. No friend of mine, or anyone else for that matter, should have been treated that way. It brought the Civil Rights movement that seemed so long ago FRONT AND CENTER in my life.
This reminded me that things take time...even when they shouldn't! Even when they aren't fair!
I’ll never forget it.
Fast forward 30 years to reading yesterday’s paper. I was again flabbergasted at the injustices in our country. Did you know that it wasn’t until 2000 that all 50 states celebrated MLK Jr. Day? Come on!!!
If you read this story, vocal artist Stevie Wonder just kept talking…and pushing…and finally someone listened!
Dr. King’s fight and Katherine’s fight reminded me that sometimes things take time…too much time. But during that time, it is necessary to KEEP TALKING and BELIEVING that what we have to say will make a difference.
In this world of instant gratification, half-listening and biased thinking, WE MUST BE PERSISTENT!
How many times have you backed off because you ran into something or someone who made you second guess yourself?
How many times did you go against what you knew was true and right because the crowd didn’t listen at first?
How many times have you changed your approach because it seemed your way would never work?
How many times?
As coaches, leaders, parents…humans, we second-guess ourselves. We cave to comfort. We allow those who have more “knowledge” or “experience” than us to override what our gut is telling us is true.
We let our emotions sweep us away when we know the facts.
This doesn’t make us weak. It makes us human. We are wired to survive and survival often comes from being safe and comfortable…and that’s not always a bad thing.
But…there are times when we need to PERSIST.
The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. One hundred and thirty-seven years later, we celebrated a day honoring the man who moved Lincoln’s vision to new heights.
PERSISTENCE!
Katherine Peter finally got her message across.
This is not the first time I have heard this story. Anita Hubert, a beautiful soul and mother of one of my players at CSU knew something was wrong, too. The doctor eventually told her “Anita, you were talking and I wasn’t listening.” DEVASTATING!
People may not listen, but when we believe something is life-changing, we MUST keep talking.
Dr. King’s message still hasn’t been heard by everyone, but it would not have been heard by anyone had he stopped at the first sign of trouble.
Katherine Peter’s message wasn’t heard by everyone, but she is continuing to talk to encourage us. And her message, like Dr. King’s, will change the lives of others!
As you celebrate the message of Dr. King today I hope you will share Katherine’s message and encourage those you lead to USE THEIR VOICES for their good and the good of us all.
And remind them that sometimes, even though it doesn’t make sense, things take time. So many quit 5 yards from the goal line because we can’t see how close we are.
Had those fighting for equality stopped because it took too long, our world would look so different today.
Had Katherine stopped because no one was listening, she would not be watching her son grow today.
We need FIGHTERS FOR FACTS. We know that following the facts leads to confidence in our performance. When emotion wants to carry us away, keeping a running tally of facts and making sure that our narrative can keep us moving forward!
For our own daily fights and the big fights we all face we must remember that some things take time…even when they shouldn’t.
And we must remember that no one will hear us and nothing will change if we don’t use our voices and share our facts!
Celebrate the courage and persistence of Dr. King today.
Celebrate the courage and persistence of Katherine and her desire to do her “small part to change the world”.
And one more request, pray for Katherine and her family. We pray for continued strength and healing…and thank her for her courage, persistence and message!
If you have a message you would like to share with her, send it to me at juilej@ssbperformance.com and I will pass it on! I am sure she would love to hear our voices!
Be persistent!
Julie
P.S. Start a mental performance program today. Contact me at juliej@ssbperformance.com
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946