To this day, I can’t stand losing! If you beat me, see you tomorrow; it’s just that simple! That’s just how I’m wired, NEVER QUIT! As a kid, my mom once threaten to beat me up, if I let someone chase me home “again.” Needless to say, “I was scared!” When I was a teenager, I bet my dad I would beat him at bowling. He won and took all of my allowance (crocodile tears, for real) – lesson learned, don’t gamble! Excuse: None, he was good! It was a beat down, pure and simple. He would later bowl in a league (genius me, right – LOL).
In college they called me “Leon” on line (e.g., Leon Spinks was a small heavyweight champ; I wasn’t a “fighter,” but I wasn’t backing down either; Note: I think I just got a bad rep – I was a scared, peace loving type). In any case, to this day, I hate losing at anything, with a passion (e.g., pool, cards, tic-tac-toe, anything). You won 17 out of 20? So, you just got lucky. I’ll be back tomorrow (LOL)! Hard Wired (PERIOD)! At the same time, that single loss to my dad plays out over and over again, every time I play something where there is a chance of losing. I get nervous, like test anxiety. Most days I can subdue the feeling, but in some situations I can feel myself tense up, a cold sweat. Every time I come face-to-face with this FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real), I reconfirm “I’m a winner, not a quitter!” Otherwise, I will always be “that loser.” Win or lose, I’M COMING! You will have to beat me again, it’s just that simple (PERIOD)!
One thing my mom (and dad) taught me, DON’T QUIT! So, I fight on: Groups ’78, first generation college student – It took 11yrs, but I did it; first NPHC Advisor at IU Bloomington; first generation corporate Manager! If you win against me, you have to take the victory, it’s just that simple! I pray that you have that same fighting spirit in you, because there will be days that test every ounce of courage you have in you. DON”T QUIT!!!
Be clear: THINGS THAT HURT US, SOMETIMES MAKE US STRONGER, IF WE LET THEM!!! Let patience (perseverance) have it’s perfect way: James 1:4 (KJV) – “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
P.S., “I don’t want to cheat you, I just want to beat you!”
… and “I’ll see you tomorrow, if the Lord says the same!” – Note from My Hero, My Dad!!!
To the Groups Program Students, fight with everything you have in you to graduate. DON’T QUIT! Fight to know who you are. You are not a frat member or a “GDI,” you are a “Success Story” to be told for decades to come, but you must write you story in the book of life (e.g., How will your story go: He/She came, they say, they …. – FILL IN THE BLANK … OR GO HOME, “I one saw IU”).
I am a proud graduate of the Groups Program, Alumni of Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana! Glad to meet you!