Help Yourself for Teens by Dave Pelzer

Author:Dave Pelzer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

What’s Driving You?

If you’ve fallen behind in school, had some trouble at home or work, had to push yourself a little harder to make the sports team, then I say good for you! In more wise words from Bernie Mac, “If you want a helping hand, look at the end of your arm.” In other words, you’ve earned it. Sometimes the worst things that can happen to you or against you can be extremely motivational, positive, life-altering experiences. Why? They teach us all that life is not perfect. When you’re slapped down and hate how that feels, you make darn sure it never happens again. How? You concentrate on not allowing yourself to be in that position again. Period. You focus on what truly matters in improving your life for the better: getting good grades, getting along with others, concentrating on every play of every game—how you act and what you say. Make it a part of your everyday lifestyle. Focus, focus, focus.

Under some circumstances when push comes to shove, you have to focus on what’s imperative; you have to dig down deep within yourself and, above all, you have to want it more. Every day when I read the paper I come across stories that are utterly amazing: A man survives alone in the wilderness with nothing but a compass, a small knife, common sense, and willpower. A person on the brink of death reaches full recovery. A single mom who dropped out of high school to raise three kids works two full-time jobs and eventually earns a college degree with honors. Wow!

You’ve heard the stories, read the magazines, and seen these epics in the movies. What every one of these folks has is an indomitable human spirit. That deep inner drive to overcome, to better themselves no matter their past, no matter how many times they’ve been slapped down, stepped on, or kicked around. Their drive to succeed far outweighs anything negative they’ve experienced. They’re focused. And, ta-da, they simply wanted it more.

Like Erik Weihenmayer, blind since he was thirteen. As a thirty-three-year-old he climbed to the top of famed twenty-nine-thousand-foot Mount Everest. Now keep in mind, 90 percent of climbers fail to reach the summit, and many die trying. And by the way, how high is twenty-nine thousand feet? I used to midair-refuel aircraft as low as ten thousand feet and as high as twenty-five thousand feet!

And while Mr. Weihenmayer had some support, he still accomplished his dream on his own. He did it while he was sick, dehydrated, and bloodied—and that was just the first floor of the tallest mountain in the world, the “lower” camp one, which Erik stumbled into literally green in the face. A teammate and fellow climber said, “He looked like prizefighter George Foreman had beat him up for two hours.” Not just another yuppie adventurist, Weihenmayer began applying himself to mountaineering at age twenty. With all climbs, especially the unforgiving, constantly ice-shifting Everest, one mistake, one small misstep, and Erik and

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