Once upon a time, not too long ago, there lived a small young man in a big old city. The young man grew up in a tiny little house where food was scarce but bills to pay were aplenty. At age 10, his father left him, and he now had only his mother who would care. Like any other young teen, he went to school by day but unlike many other teens, he worked by night. Often, he thought what would happen of him? Often, he wondered how he could ever make it big? After all, he was a small young man in a big old city. In all his wondering, he always remembered the golden rule that his mother taught him:
“Always do what is right, not what is easy”.
So, when life was hard and he had to make tough choices, it was easy for him to make the right choice, to do what was right and not what was easy.
Years went by, and he managed to complete his education as a Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, MBA and CPA. He could do this and never give up because he had learned another important principle in life:
“The difference between success and failure is trying that one more time”.
So he tried, till he succeeded.
Now life had a way of getting back at this small but not-so-young-now man. His only son was diagnosed with a blood disorder and was on blood transfusions every two weeks, with not much hope of survival. The only way for his little boy to live was to risk a stem cell transplant. But by now, this young man had learned a third important lesson:
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore”. (Quote by Andre Gide)
So, he along with his beautiful bride and his little son literally traveled across the oceans, risked his job, his career and his wealth to give his little boy a chance to live a normal life. After many struggles, many sleepless nights and after having shed many tears while living through these fears, his son was healed, and his career restored. Throughout these trials, he had learned one more important lesson from Thor Ragnarok,
“I choose to run toward my problems, not away from them. Because, this is what heroes do”.
He knew he had to face his giants, if he had to ever succeed. He also learned another important lesson,
“You can’t live in the City of Yesterday, on the streets of Regret in the town of bitterness and hope to succeed. Success comes to those who let go of their past and live on Hope avenue, in the city of Tomorrow, in the town of over comers”.
By now, this small and not-so-young-now man knew he had a purpose in life. He had learned from John Maxwell,
“It was more important to be significant than successful”. It was important “To be led by a vision than be driven by a fear”.
Out of that understanding came an overflow of passion to sow into others and help others grow personally. He then became a leadership trainer, personal coach and a DISC consultant while doing his full-time job as a Corporate Controller. Many had predicted he would not succeed in his venture, which he called “Eagle’s Wings Management Consultants” but he believed in this old saying
“ I would rather be remembered as the guy who never gave up than be forgotten as the guy who never tried”.
This small young man from the big old city is Kamal Manik – this is his story; He is not a legend; he is nobody great , not even remotely successful (as many rightly predicted), but he has a message of hope- a message to inspire you:
“Sometimes we are so occupied with DOING what we do to succeed, that we forget BEING what we ought to be to be significant”.
So, do something significant today. Impact someone's life!
As some wise man has said,
“It’s OK to bite more than you can chew. Better choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity”.
Today, be inspired to choke on greatness!
This is my story by Kamal Manik
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