You might say this is not the norm but it very much is, except that more of such stories don't make it to the media. Being a magnet for positive energy (regardless the age of the "giver"), I had to pay my respect to Jason and Nam, especially because we live in a society that live and breath on NEGATIVES. Actually, it was 12-year old Nam's wisdom that poked the happy "bell bubble" from my eyes: "distraction is the enemy of the mind...although, I'm still young but my mind is strong and my dream is big." Most grown-ups with so much opportunities and privilege cannot even allow themselves to be so self-motivating and strong...I say return to the young for "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength..." (Psalm 8:1-2).
To 9-yo Jason, what can I say? You are part of the reason I still believe in positive change. It took you 15 seconds to "whop" your teacher in a chess game? What I can't really understand is that you are self-taught - how do you do it? You know, I had my first chess board when I was in the 10th grade way back when in Liberia. I was at least 5yrs older than you but I remember so well, I taught myself too. For many days, I would take my game board to school to play with my friends after school. Though there were no championships I could enter, I kept my interest in the game. The last time I played was last month - me and my Mac Book Pro. You guess right, MBP "whop" me three times.in a row. After reading your story, I'm "fired-up" for another game with MBP - don't have your hopes up - cuz I think I'm gonna get "whoppen" again.
KUDOS to you two for sharing your gifts and talent with me and the WWW. More success to come!!!
True that most of us concentrate on the negative. As for me, I do it because the negative leads to progress (because we do still have hope; if we didn't, it wouldn't work), whereas the positive is very static.
ReplyDeleteBlah, that makes me miss figure skating :( Nam's flow is good and he makes good use of his space, but he isn't reaching enough on his landings and such...
Alright, alright...I can see your point Tyler. I know where you're driving to. At the same time, let's be realistic. The reason why a lot of people in the Western world use drug to treat behavior is because (partly) they fest on negative thoughts and environment. No doubt some people (like yourself) have high resilience - i.e., the ability to use negative thoughts as motivators. This is an exception rather than the rule. Otherwise, Prozac wouldn't be fairing so well in the market.
ReplyDeleteWell, for Nam...I can't even go there. The first time I tried the ice, my bum was sore:-).