Perspective Management
The Power Within
by Ramon M. Maisonet
“I had to get it done.” That’s what she eventually said when she got over the realization of being abandoned by her Family. The story of Dawn Loggins is not only inspiring, but it is also a real example of what can happen when people, despite the curveballs life throws at them, decide they are going to take the steering wheels of their lives and drive it with a destination toward success. Dawn faced some tough years living in the small towns of North Carolina. She went through high school with an excess of instability in her Family. She coped with her Family being evicted from numerous homes and faced the realities of living without lights, unpaid water bills, unemployed parents and a steady diet of ramen noodles. Those daily difficulties, however, did not prepare the high school senior for the shock of coming home one day to discover that her Family had disappeared—relocating to another state without telling her. Cell phones had been disconnected, the house was empty and there were no notes—no warnings. “I found myself absolutely homeless with nowhere to go,” Loggins said. “I stayed at friend’s houses in between, and instead of worrying about it, I decided to take action. I knew I had to go to school and I wanted to go back to work.” So, she made it happen. Between a part-time job she got serving as a school custodian before and after school and the kindness and charity of some of her community members, she was able to slowly get back on her feet, all the while focused on her schoolwork. Her
determination allowed her to remain a straight-A student. Her perseverance ultimately led to her becoming the first person from her high school to ever be accepted to Harvard—where she now attends. “A lot of people use bad situations as an excuse and instead of doing that, I turned the bad things around into motivation to succeed and do well,” Loggins said in a television interview with NBC. “I felt like it would be so easy and even acceptable if I were to just say – you
every day with people who decide that they are not going to be victims. However, nothing happens unless you first decide that where you are is not where you are supposed to be. I found this mindset in one of my favorite poems by Karen Ravns: Only as high as I reach can I grow, Only as far as I seek can I go, Only as deep as I look can I see, Only as much as I dream can I be.
Remember the rule of “Nothing”
Notice the common denominator is “I.” In other words, any success you’ll experience lies simply in the power of your say so! You will only go as far as you determine—you’re in charge! Self-reliance is like a toothbrush, you can’t use anyone else’s. You’ve got to grab a hold of the steering wheel of your life and say, “I’m in charge!” Filmmaker Tyler Perry, whose eight films have grossed more than 400 million dollars over the years, now enjoys immense success - but was actually living out of his car for a few months at one time in his life. “Can you imagine a six-foot-five man sleeping in a Geo Metro?” he later joked. Perry took charge. I like the mindset of Gina Rinehart (the world’s richest woman) who once said, “If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself — spend less time drinking or smoking and socializing, and more time working.”
Nothing in your life is going to change until your habits do.
Nothing in your life is going to work for you until you decide to.
Nothing in all of your dreaming is going to materialize until you recognize that
everything you need to succeed is in you. know what, I give up, I can’t do this in this situation, but I didn’t. I knew that if I wanted to make something of myself and I didn’t want to live like this when I got older, I had to get it done.” Hear me when I tell you that you are not the result of life happening to you, you are the result of how you respond. There are stories like Dawn’s that happen
In other words, spend less time doing nothing and take charge.
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