Introduction

The most powerful story we tell is the story we tell to ourselves about our self.
In my youth, my story was based on my experience. In gym class, I was always the last
one picked for teams. “Who will take Larry?” the gym teacher would ask. Girls told me,
“I just want to be friends,” but I wanted to be more than friends. My marks in school
were not impressive. I passed, but that was about it.
After I dropped out of school at sixteen, I left home and got a job. Things seemed better
at first. My jobs would seem interesting and fun at the beginning, but they soon became
drudgery. And the pay didn’t support much of a lifestyle. I might have accepted that if I
could have seen a future, but I couldn’t.
The problem was: I was an expert on who I was not, but I didn’t have a clue who I was.
My story about me was about who I wasn’t and what I couldn’t do. The truth was that I
felt sorry for myself.
Clearly, the story I was telling myself about me was holding me back. What I needed was
some perspective, and I got that perspective from reading the biographies of Anne Frank,
Thomas Edison, and Benjamin Franklin.
My troubles were tiny compared to those of thirteen-year-old Anne Frank hiding in an
attic from the Nazis. Yet her response was, “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the
beauty that remains,” and, “Where there’s hope, there’s life.”
I began to have hope, too.
Some people said that Thomas Edison had failed more than any man who had ever lived.
Yet that wasn’t how he saw it. He said, “I haven’t failed. I have just found 10,000 ways
that won’t work. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to
succeed is to try just one more time.”
I began to see my mistakes and “failures” as learning experiences.
What amazed me about Benjamin Franklin was that he admitted his faults and then
shared his plan for self-improvement. He detailed how he’d use a journal to monitor his
progress and keep himself on track.
I began to keep a journal and to think about how I could improve myself. The story I was
telling myself about myself started to improve. I decided to complete my high school
education.
Every person in this collection inspires, by their response to challenges (and some of
them face incredible challenges), by their commitment to serving humanity, and by
staying committed to their values.
I believe every person who reads these stories will be inspired.