Never, Ever, Give Up

Good Evening,

For those of you who didn't catch my post yesterday, I was asked last night to give a speech this morning on never giving up/achieving dreams.  Short notice but I gave it my best.  

This is the message I delivered to a classroom of 12 and 13 year old students today.  Subsequently, I have been asked to visit a few other schools and share my message with them as well.  I wish I could speak to these children in Xhosa and Afrikaans.  I will most likely ask for this transcript to be translated into these languages and handed out prior to me talking about this with any more students.  However, I saw that I connected with at least one boy today and It was pretty cool.

Never Give Up

Mark Jude McGilvery from The United States Of America

Good Morning!  

My name is Mark and I have been given the privilege of being asked to come here today to talk with you guys.  I'd like to talk a little bit about never giving up in life and what I believe to be the key components necessary to achieving your dreams.

I believe that anything is possible in life if we keep four things in mind at all times.

1.Education:  

This is the key to your future.  Knowledge is the most powerful tool we can arm ourselves with.  Own this and take pride in it.  It may be hard for some of you to see this now, however, if you don't make the most of getting an education, chances are very good that you will come to regret this later in life.  Without an education not many things are possible.  With one, and by never giving up, most anything you can dream of can be yours.  I was close to giving up on my own education.  Really close.  School was never easy for me.  I was getting sick of putting up the fight.  However, I never quit.  This decision has led to many of my dreams coming true!  I'd never have been able to come here to South Africa and travel the world teaching/volunteering if I had given up on my education.  If getting a solid education was easy, everyone would get one.  If you WANT one, you better be ready to WORK for it.  Don't give up and IT can be yours.

2. Do What Makes You Happy:  

Your chances of this drastically improve with that education I was just talking about.  However, even outside of the classroom, doing what makes you happy will energize your soul and keep you motivated.  If you like to draw, draw.  If you like to play rugby or cricket, play them.  If you like to sing, read, or play, do these things.  We have little to no control over many things that will happen in our lives, so take advantage of the things you can control.  Please, strive every day to do the things that make you smile.  

3.Social Responsibility:  

There are not many people in this world that have achieved their dreams all by themselves.  We are all in this thing called life together.  Do whatever it is that you can to help others in need.  Perhaps those that we reach out to won't be able to give us jobs or put food on the table or clothes on our backs.  But, by helping others, they will help us learn about who WE really are and that's a priceless gift.  Many of our strengths and weaknesses will come to the surface through these efforts.   We then need to capitalize on our strengths and strive to improve on our weaknesses.  We all have them.  We just need to be constantly working to improve on them.  Also, never give up on the environment that you live in. By working hard to make our communities stronger, I believe we will gain fulfillment and knowledge in return.  These will go a long way in helping us to achieve our own dreams.

4. Family/Friends:  

At the end of the day, family and friends are the ones that really matter.  Do not take them for granted.   We need to be sure to be good to them.  If you don't like how things are with those closest to you in life, be the change to make things better.  Unfortunately it took me over 10 years, or a 3rd of my life to learn this lesson.   However, when I did, my life drastically changed for the better.  There is no question about it.  Family and friends make for very strong shoulders to lean on when times are tough.  I have no doubt that I would not be here sharing a classroom with you all today, achieving one of my dreams, if it were not for my friends and family.

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So, every time someone tells you YOU CAN'T do something, tell yourself YOU CAN.  Nobody has the ability to fight harder for your own future than you.  You may or may not be able to get help along the way, but ultimately the decision to make a brighter tomorrow for yourself, is YOURS.

Work hard.  Do what makes you happy. Help those in need. Keep family/friends in mind always.  And you too can live your dreams.

I'd like to close with a letter President Mandela wrote to his wife while in prison.  

Page 211-212 in Conversations With Myself. (read letter)

Listen, your very own President Mandela may well be the best example in world history that If we never give up, anything is possible!

Again, thank you so very much for sharing your classroom with me today!  This is a dream of mine coming true.  It wasn't easy getting to this point in my life, but I'm sure glad I have arrived here.

Don't let the world pass you by.  It's never too late to live your dreams.  I'm proof!

Be who you want to be.  YOU CAN DO IT!.  I believe in you.  And remember,

NEVER, EVER, GIVE UP!

Found this Buffalo skull while tracking leopard prints in the dirt.  Ripped my jeans 5 minutes into the Safari when I fell out of a tree.  Long story. Better my pants ripping than my leg.  Dodged a bullet and a Leopard!

Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga, South Africa.  Currently standing on a cliff about 3,000 feet above the river! 2nd biggest Canyon in all of Africa!

Standing even closer to the cliff!  Well past the sign that said "Danger, Stay behind the fence at all times"

I was expecting this statue to be about 20x bigger.  Hanging with the Prez.  No big deal.