Ix Chel’s Reviews > Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story > Status Update

How we view difficulties and problems determines how we end up. If we choose to see the obstacles in our path as barriers, we stop trying. However, if we choose to see the obstacles as hurdles, we can leap over them. Let nothing stop us from going forward. Whatever direction we choose, if we can realize that every hurdle we jump strengthens and prepares us for the next one, we're already on the way to success.

[Paraphrasing here] There are many that have done outstanding work, yet few know about their achievements. They show that being a member of a minority race doesn't mean being a minority achiever. Learn about these highly talented individuals so you can have a variety of role models. When you have good role models, you can change and set your sights towards higher achievements.

THINK BIG
T = TALENT and also TIME
H = HOPE and also HONESTY
I = INSIGHT
N = NICE
K = KNOWLEDGE
B = BOOKS
I = IN-DEPTH LEARNING
G = GOD

"It shook me that we were able to perform as a team at this level of complexity. We are capable of doing even better things than we believe we are, if we challenge each other to do it." - Mark Rogers

When people know their capabilities, and they know their material (or job), it doesn't matter who opposes them. Regardless of the reputation of the critics or their popularity, power, or how much they think they know, their opinions become irrelevant.

[Paraphrasing here] That's the message that should get across to the Black community. The same opportunities are there, but we can't automatically start out as vice president of the company. It's better to start where we can fit in and then work our way up. And if you aren't progressing then learn as much as you can to use that knowledge to do it on your own.

[Paraphrasing here] For example, I noticed that some Asian communities' mindset is to have a plan that benefits you but still work together and supporting others. They didn't beg for handouts and often took the lowest jobs offered. Even well-educated individuals didn't mind sweeping floors if it was a paying job. Today many of these same people are property owners and entrepreneurs.

[Paraphrasing] Many of our pressing racial problems will be taken care of when we who are among the minorities will stand on our own feet and refuse to look to anybody else to save us from our situations. Unfortunately the culture in which we live stresses looking out for number one. Without adopting such a self-centred value system, we can demand the best of ourselves while we are extending our hands to help others.

[Paraphrasing here,] Black folks need to know the way to escape their often dismal situations is contained within themselves. They can't expect other people to do it for them. This is why representation is so important as it provides living examples of someone who made it and who came from what we now call a disadvantaged background. Making someone's dream more achievable as somebody like them has already done it.