Against All Odds (Not the Movie)

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

Someone Tweeted this and I couldn’t help myself and replied: ‘It’s easier said than done!”

Keeping the enthusiasm is not impossible. It requires a constant reprogramming of the mind every morning against all obstacles that will come your way, because they will come. Maybe for some people, success has come easily, but not for me. When you look at the full picture, the odds where against me:

1. Mother had 2 miscarriages prior to my pregnancy. She required bed rest to prevent losing me as well.
2. Born out-of-wedlock and raised single mother.
3. Born and raised in minority based working class neighborhood – Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Why is this relevant? It’s under the context of Nature vs Nurture.
4. Considered by a group of people as a ‘Minority’ (whatever that may mean). With all the hoopla going around with immigration law (perhaps a sign of xenophobia), I’m supposed to be a failure, High School dropout, a burden to society(or criminal) and having a child in my early teens because that is what my gender does.

The top 3 items on the list where out of my control, but with the 4th item on the list I had to choose how to play the role. My mom’s stern upbringing made a big impact as well as the hardships she had to endure while living in a country not her own. My failure or success could not be attributed to anything or anyone else but me. The pressure was on me to write the script based on the settings given to me. Would I play ‘The Hero’, ‘The Victim’ or ‘The Villain’?
There was (and still is) a lot of hard work, determination, tears and frustrations involved; yet overcoming each hurdle, each setback has brought a great sense of pride, of achievement… Graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture (Jason Richwine take that!), successfully worked for Corporate America, made some savvy financial investments and I’m waiting for the right person with whom to start a family. I did it, I beat the odds against me!

And best of all – the process has produced a tested character that will endure the challenges of life.

I’m now int the pursuit of creating my dream – Tav the Duck… I’m doing my best to keep my enthusiasm even when failure after failure seems to be coming my way…

One day I’ll tell you the story about my mom and the odds she had to beat… You’ll need a box of tissues for that.