To most readers, that statement conjures up a host of disquieting images: marijuana junkies, Woodstock, free love, JFK, MLK, demonstrations, gas shortages, the Beatles, funky music, the cold war, and the Cuban missile crisis. Other readers might recall that the Boston Celtics were basketball champs, the country was entertained by the socially inept Beverly Hillbillies, and teens couldn’t get enough of Leslie Gore’s “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.”
But those were not my experiences. In the sixties I lived in an idyllic
world, in beautiful, laid-back Jamaica, cocooned by a loving family and
untouched by world crises. I have kinder, gentler memories of the sixties: The
first Jamaican Miss World; the emergence of Bob Marley and the Wailers (who
knew they would soar from Rasta pick-up band to world renown musicians); lazy days at the beach; and dancing the
Ska on cool nights. And there was high school.
High school is my happy place. I know I must have experienced some teenage angst, parental confrontations, sibling rivalries, during those years, but I cannot remember a single such event. Hindsight truly is 20/20. I go back to my high school days for sweet memories, and, quite often, for motivation. In my mind I picture the daily, all-school assembly where we young ladies of Wolmer’s High School for Girls stood in perfectly ordered rows to sing a hymn, read Scripture, say a prayer, and hear a motivational call to arms – usually a poem or famous quotation – from our very British headmistress. I hear her voice; I see her piercing eyes connecting with each student from the stage, and it is here in that commanding presence that I hear words that even now inject me with the booster shot of inspiration I seek.
You can do what you think you can - you'll
never accomplish more,
If you're afraid of yourself, there's
nothing for you in store.
For failure comes from the inside
first - It is there if you only knew it,
And you can win though you face the
worst if you feel you're going to do it.
When I balk at a tedious writing assignment, when I doubt my ability to meet an approaching deadline, when I am faced with my greatest fears, these words remind me that success is as close or as far away as the thoughts swirling through my mind. Yes I can.
So tell me, WHERE DO YOU FIND MOTIVATION? Share your thoughts....
