THE VALUE OF DETERMINATION, AS TOLD BY A CHILD

Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe. Gail Devers

Not so long ago, I was taught the value of determination and the power it wielded. This lesson came from the most  unlikely source; not from leadership seminars or  books but from a ‘little boy’.

This boy was gifted with a ‘cardboard plane’ that He envisioned taking back home as a souvenir from His vacation. This was His DREAM. Another DREAM was to meet a pilot in a real cockpit. He believed dreams were possible. This was His truth!

Fast forward a few days later, His Mama tried talking Him out of holding onto the toy plane through a 15 hours plus journey. She had her reasons. They made sense;

• It was going to be a distraction, a pain in the ‘a’.
• He was going to lose it and get upset
• It would be crushed- end of story.

After establishing the rationale of travelling light, she tried adding it to the suitcase. He pleaded, His reason was. He didn’t want it crushed His beloved plane will be lost forever.

On two more occasions along transit points, she tried keeping the toy plane in her hand luggage. He resisted again and again, holding on to the plane as if it was raw gold.

It was a tedious journey. Upon arrival in Freetown, He was plain exhausted. He was half-asleep but excited to be home. He held on to the plane, which now had a broken wing. This was His treasure.

At the entrance of the plane, He smiled waving the plane at the senior flight attendant with joy.

BOOM, light bulb moment! She smiled back and asked Him ;His name with a simple question: Would you like to meet with the captain in the cockpit?

Like a dream come true, IT HAD HAPPENED! The rest is His story to tell.I saw one word at play: DETERMINATION.

What would be the moral of this story?