I knew this guy who grew up with parents who told him he could do anything he wanted. His teachers praised his work; his friends envied his intelligence. He thought he could be anything in the world as long as he put his mind to it. He dreamed of one-day entering medical school and later opening up a neuroscience research center in San Diego.
Ten years after graduating from medical school, he has been working at a prestigious hospital California as a neurosurgeon and extending his research at a nearby university. He earns enough money to live a more than privileged life for four, yet he has no family. He has never been in love. He feels that through all his great achievements, he has missed out on what is most important.
I knew this girl who grew up with a family that loved her more than anything in the world. Her father was a professor. Her mother was a surgeon. At school, she was voted most likely to succeed, as success came easy for her. She won the national history day competition, and started a nationwide environmental project that recycles used bicycles and redistributes them to the those who can't afford them. She wanted to study anthropology in third-world countries and make a difference in this world.
Ten years later, she is attending her third university after failing out of the previous two but this time may actually earn her degree in business. She's found that her early years taught her nothing of discipline and hard work that tends to drive the world. Small failures have turned her off her dreams and persevering through rough times has never crossed her mind.
Life tends to throw curveballs and we can either dodge them or swing away. But the hardest part is noticing the spin of the ball.