Stay the Course and Finish the Race

She came into my life at the age of 14. This special teenager that suffers from ADHD—"squared!" She has a heart of gold and loves to please. She also possesses the mechanical aptitude to assemble a BBQ, sans instructions. Can you do that? I know I can't!

However, during the past six months, she has become blatantly disrespectful and utterly defiant to all authority in her life. A real challenge that is testing not only my patience and abilities, but also those of her family and the professionals involved in her young life.

Now, I'm only a "recent arrival" in the life of this adolescent. Her mother has spent the better part of a decade beating her head against all the proverbial brick walls one could possibly run up against trying to get help for her youngest child. Although many great professionals are presently (and thankfully) involved, despite everyone's best efforts, here's the current story.

Recently arrested for theft and sentenced to "alternative measures" as a first time juvenile offender, she displayed total contempt for the judge and the proceedings, instead choosing to have a great ol' time with her four "buddies" who were also up on charges that day. Sadly, a badge of honor for her. See where this is going?

She is fearless in all that she does, good or bad. The vice principal of her high school (where she is failing miserably) is the most caring and patient individual I think I have ever met. Just last week, with you-know-who in her office (almost a daily occurrence) and with me on the other end of the phone, this professional actually broke down in tears. Total frustration! That's how life often is with this troubled teen.

Every day now, I am faced with the choice of simply disassociating myself from the chaos of the escalating problems (she pushes everyone to the point of considering this option), and with all that is going on in my business life, trust me, it has been very tempting at times.

Even some of my well-meaning family and friends have expressed things like "I'm in over my head" or "you need to remove yourself from this situation and work on your own life," and although I understand and appreciate their concern, I simply *know* that she came into my life for a reason, and I believe that I can help guide her to something better despite the apparent hopelessness at this moment. A mission of mine.

See, I fully believe in the ultimate potential of this child. As the universe is biased towards "the good," all the goodness in her is just waiting to take over. All that is required is just a little more love, a little more tenacity, and a little more time.

I'm going to stay the course.

Let me ask you, how many times in your life have you let something go simply because the going got too tough? Like me, plenty of times I bet! It's no coincidence that the true achievers of this world are the ones who, well, stay the course!

There is one key determining factor in this equation: belief. Belief begets passion and passion perseverance, which produces your desired result!

Believers are doers and doers are achievers. Without a deep-seated level of belief in what it is you are trying to accomplish, be it in your career, in your business or even in a situation like I just described, you might as well hang up your hat and move on to something that you DO believe in because you're just gonna stall out for lacking the fuel of conviction!

Here's something that I've found to be in our favor during a trying time like this. When you feel you are at the end of your rope, doesn't life always seem to provide you with a little more slack?

How true this is! The universe will always work *with* you to accomplish anything good that you truly believe in. Anything!

Now, let me bring you back to my situation. I had a meeting yesterday with the executive director of a very special live-in school that I believe with all my heart, is a large part of the solution for my special young lady.

Problem is, this institution is severally under-funded by our government. The waiting list is over two years and unless an adolescent has committed a violent crime or poses an immediate danger to themselves, the odds of being accepted into the program are worse than winning the lottery. At least that's what I was being told to accept.

I persisted, however (phone call after phone call, letter after letter, day after day), pushing all the right buttons to cut through the red tape to get this one hour meeting, which by the way, lasted two and a half hours. And guess who was put on the priority list of their most intense program? Right!

I will keep persisting until the doors are swung wide open and she is placed in the care of the real professionals who can help make a difference in her life!

Uphill battle? More heartbreak and frustration in the future? You bet there'll be! But sometimes we simply have to buckle up for the rough ride, be firm enough in our convictions to go against the grain of conventional thinking, established "rules" and the status quo in order to win! In my case, that victory will be the chance at a reasonably normal life for a naive child I care very deeply about.

Although I don't know *for a fact* that this particular school will come to her rescue in a timely manner, I do know that the universe (and all the appropriate people on this planet) has been beckoned, and as the universe always does when there's a noble goal at heart, prayers will be answered.

In closing, my wish for you is that you find many good things in your life to believe in, to rally around and take over the goal line, no matter the obstacles. After all, we were placed on this earth with everything we need within our reach so that we can do good things for other people, and ourselves.

Just make it a most important part of your belief system to Stay the Course and Finish the Race!

Author's Note: A few months after writing this story the doors did in fact swing wide open, and my special lady was placed into the gentle but firm hands of the people who make this school so special. Almost 20 years later, I am happy to report she is an awesome mother to two beautiful children!

A special thank you to Sonia and staff for all that you give.

“Life is a gift, not a prize.”

©Rick Beneteau

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