poundsasson
SPNer
- Oct 11, 2006
- 11
- 0
THE MEANING OF SUCCESS
One man began a speech to his fellow college alumni with the
statement, "Some of you are successes, and some of you are
failures -- only God knows which are which!" There are many kinds
of successes, many kinds of winners; and which is which may not
at first be apparent.
Esther Kim is a true champion with a heart-warming story. She
competed against her childhood friend, Kay Poe, in the U.S.
Olympic Trials for her sport -- Taekwondo. Esther lost the match,
but she went on to win all her other fights, which still
qualified her for the finals. Her friend, Kay, also won her
successive matches. But in her last fight before the finals,
disaster struck. Kay dislocated her knee and went down in great
pain. Her knee was reset as she lay in agony on the mat. All the
while, her friend Esther encouraged her from the sidelines to
finish the fight. Courageously, Kay finally stood up and, on one
good leg, concluded the match for a win.
The only contestants now remaining were Kay Poe, with an injured
leg, and her friend, Esther Kim. One woman would be chosen from
these trials for the Olympic team. "I looked at her with one good
leg against me with two good legs," Esther Kim recalled, "and I
said, 'It's not fair!'"
On the spot, Esther made a hard decision. She forfeited the match
to her friend Kay, whose leg was sure to be fully healed for the
2000 Olympic Games. For her part, Kay bought Esther a ticket to
Sydney, Australia, so she might watch and cheer from the stands.
"This was our dream, going to the Olympics," Esther said. "It's
so hard!" I have cried about it." But Esther discovered something
important. "I gave her my dream," she said, "but for the first
time ever, I feel like a champ." Esther Kim won a victory far
greater than one fought on the mats. She won a victory of the
spirit, which qualifies her as a true champion.
As Kay Poe's father remarked, "The champions aren't always the
ones who have all the medals." No, sometimes they are cheering
from the sidelines. For success and winning is often about
victories won in the hidden recesses of the heart. And any of us
who will fight and win such a victory will know the meaning of
the word "success."
<From Steve Goodier's PRESCRIPTION FOR PEACE
