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THE POWER OF TAKING THE PLUNGE<br />
school, she could run faster than every boy in<br />
her class. She was pretty cocky about it too until<br />
she reached third grade. At one of her recesses,<br />
she raced a bunch of boys on the school's track<br />
and a boy beat her. She got so disappointed that<br />
she ended up quitting her running career (so to<br />
speak). Her mother and I would try to<br />
encourage her to no avail. I believe that was the<br />
first time she experienced defeat, and she'll<br />
admit today at age 35, that she was a very sore<br />
loser.<br />
Do you think that if her mother and I forced<br />
her to continue it would have done any good?<br />
I think you know the answer to that. The goal<br />
had to be hers and hers alone. She had to own<br />
it. I have witnessed parents forcing their<br />
children into things only to discover their<br />
resentment. I tried that with my son Chris on<br />
several worthy objectives, and even after he<br />
became an adult, he would remind me of my<br />
Marine Corps Drill Instructor tactics. The<br />
funny thing is that I don’t remember a lot of the<br />
details, and I’ve tried to convince him that he as<br />
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