The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People
entries made by this boy were very different when compared to the other children. An excerpt of what that 8-year-old wrote in 1995: “I feel bad that people are killing people. I hate that people don’t care about kids or grown-ups, because we want to live our life saying, ‘I love my life.’ “People are killing babies, toddlers, newborns and even moms who have babies in their stomachs. If the world stays like this, nobody, and I mean nobody, will survive. “And there's a few things that are doing this and it’s only gangs. People can’t even wear some clothes because of them. We can’t even have one decent day. “There is only one that can save us and that is the police. That is the only way. If not we are all going to die.” The teacher told a newspaper journalist about this story and a column was published about him, and life moved on. 14 years after that column appeared, a handwritten letter arrived at the SunTimes addressed to the journalist. The letter was written in pencil, on lined notebook paper, and it was from a man in his early 20s who wrote: “[About 14 years ago], I wrote a passage in my journal at school about my neighborhood and how gangs were polluting my area. My teacher sent it to you and you in turn wrote an article about it.” “It turns out I didn’t become any better than the trash I was talking about in my journal. I am facing federal drug charges for drug conspiracy while my daughter just turned one year old.” The young man is inmate #84433 in an Illinois jail. The most memorable quote from the young man: “We all start out good. I was a good kid who made wrong choices, now I’m facing 10 to life.” We all start out good. The smart kid at the age of 8 was able to discriminate at a young age. He wasn’t able to get away. Slowly, the crowd he hung out with ate away at him. It’s a story that really exemplifies the importance of being able to discriminate, and make the right choice. Seek out the ‘good’ and discard the ‘bad’.
Summary It’s all too easy to forgo the normal checks and balances and go with your heart. Make a judgment that matters by having a commanding understanding Copyright © 2009 – www.TheBigDreamer.com – Page 133