Fatherhood

do your best in order to make them successful. You want children to be more successful than you, in bigger and better than you. That all as all. That has always been my view. Now others might have something different, but me as a parent, me as a father, always want to see my children become successful and do bigger and better things than me. So along the way as we grow up, or along the way as they grow up. This journey's a long role. It's an ending role, and

it's an obligation as a parent. You know, you have to be present and you have to have the desire and you have to have the fortitude because this journey is long and it takes patience. As a father, the first topic on the shelf today is called child or Communership. I'm gonna be talking to my son. I'm gonna share with your story there at tenues old, this near and dear. You're gonna love this story, So stay tuned. Another segment that we willn't be discussing on this episode. It's called

family table talks. When I sat down for dinner and we were just having a discussion between my wife and my two kids a year in Mecca, and we were discussing um the topic of like man role in a woman role in a home, you know, and so it was just amazing to hear what a fourteen year old girl thinks about domestic role in the home, in a sixty ye old boys a year what he thinks about the domestic role of a man and woman um in in their home. The final topic on the shelf today

is called growing Pains. You don't want to talk about this subject matter because people see success us, but they don't always see what happens behind the scenes and what goes into it. So I want to just talk about because this is very very deep and meaningful story. That's a great memory and it brings back so much joy when I think about the things we did and how we did it and what we did. So sit back,

enjoy this episode of fatherhood. When you was ten years old, you always had a spirit of and entrepreneur, a goal getter, and you always are very outgoing and outspoken. And when we were in a financial hardship and we were trying to go to the Junior Olympics, funds were limited, and yet you, at ten years old, you said to me, and remember you said to me, You said, Dad, you don't have to worry about me. I'm gonna pay my

own way. And you took these bookmarks and you just started selling them and raised like over a dollars and paid for the whole trip for all of us to go to the Junior Limbits, just to watch your brother man.

And I always remember that and on it, and remember you know when you wrote on your college application and they had you write an essay, you included that part about yourself, because at ten years old, you know, just to take all those bookmarks and sell them and raised twenty five hundred dollars just like and you and paid

for our trip to the Junior Olympics. Was huge. Ishmael, and I've always remember that because that was incredible, which you know, so I know you could be whatever you want to do whatever you want, and and because you have a very very determined in just beautiful spirit brother, and so but you know you remember Ishmael when we went around and we'll go to those black expos and

I will set y'all louve with those bookmarks. We went to uh the million Man March a long time ago and nine and y'all sold all those book marks your witness to me and black men all over in Washington, d C. As a little ten levenie old and you sold all of those book marks. Um, yeah, that was a cash cow. Asked how I remember that. I remember that I had a plan. I remember I realized at the time, I realized I wouldn't be able to go.

And that's when I realized, if I put a table outside, I wrote on a piece of paper, I just started doing math. I remember like it was yesterday. I started to a math on a piece of paper, worked out if I did because I knew when the Junior Olympics were going on, and I knew how much time we had left, how much money I need to make every day, And it was forty dollars. I think I gotta sell forty dollars and bookmarks every day. I remember, and I got a table. When I put a table outside of

the bookstore. It was a fox Heels all right. It was Uma Hill, Bolling Hills Mall, Balling Hillsmall. Yeah. So I put a table right outside to catch the traffic. And as they were walking by the store, and it turned out some days we're making more forty bucks. So they yeah, yeah, right right there next to me. Yeah, you know that was good. You know, this is why you know you got an entrepreneur, a spirit um. That

was a milestone. To believe it or not, you have to understand I was a milestone for someone ten years old to the side, did Dad, You don't need to worry about me. I'm gonna pay I'm gonna raise the money so that I can go to the Junior Olympics. And while I was like, well, how are you gonna do that, I'm gonna sell these bug Martin, and you went out there, didn't. I only did you pay for yourself, but you raised the money for all of us to go. And you was ten years old. Man. I we said

in that restaurant, and we talked about that. I was just like side, I just want to thank you, man. I want to thank because if you know, we all would listen and in them times, you know, books wasn't flying off your shelves like that. It was a labor of love. It was a labor of love. But y'all was you. You and your brother was hit always in the store, hit side by side with me, and uh, y'all grew up in the store. So it ain't always you know, been a financial um um yeah, natural success.

You know, there's been trials and there's been trimulations, and there have been you know, hard times, and books wasn't flying are always off the shop. You know, this was we was playing seeds. We were doing our part, but it took time. People just walked back rather wouldn't. It wasn't interesting in these types of books. But I know these books right here, they helped change my life. And

I was trying to teach y'alls. Y'all were growing up to be strong and and and and and you know, strong young black men in America who had to knowledge yourself, had confidence in yourself, and be successful in America, to win in America. You know, and by loving yourself, knowing yourself, believing in yourself. So you know, so that's what I tried to instill in you and inn Calfani and uh and but man, that that was an incredible achievement when you sold all those bookmarks and pay for all of

the junior. You should never forget about that, because brother, you know, not everyone is that industrial and then that and they have that kind of for the two and you had it at ten. You had that at ten years old, the determination to do something and do it and come up with a plan. You know, you thought it through and then you went out and implemented and made it happen. That's you. I want one for two or three ft five? Oh yeah, you remember that one for three? What was it? One for one book mark

for three dollars? Was it? No, one for two, one for two, two for four or three for five? There you go, that's right, one for two, two for four or three bookmarksters and that five dollars flying off this when you change, you change the game with the magnets. Oh man, the magnezis man. I would be manufacturing no bookmarks and no no magnets. Man. I was like I gotta get proud of my son out here. He's selling

the daylight side of this stuff. I gotta have some inventory for him, because, you know, man, we entrepreneurs by nature. We have the spirit of the Duke himself and entrepreneurship. Man. We was out here manufacturing book Martin Magnus and my sons was out here, Luke. When I say three ft five, it was different when a tenuo say three ft five, man, Man, people will buy them by the backs, on barks, by

the bat man. It was. It was some of those sans. Yeah, we had some positive smokeness on h but it was you catch more flies with honey the vinegar. Yes, this fake it till you make it. Remember that, fake it till you make it. I remember that one. You know. Yeah, we have some really positive, nice little artwork on them, positive affirmations on them, and um and when you put that in the hands of a ten year old who knows how to sell, like you, you know how to sell.

But there's no accident. There's no accident. Brother, that you went to a school with with three thousand seniors. You went to a school where the graduation had probably about eight thousand people, and you were selected two give a speech at the graduation. You were selected and nice graduate, But you were sixteen years old talking in front of eight thousand people, you know, for three four minutes. You know you didn't stumble. You didn't stumble, not one time.

Brother and us both with confidence. But you don't know how proud your family, your dad was to see you do something like that's in the cheer. I could never do something like that, you know, back then, because I had a phobia about, you know, speaking in front of people. That was a that's a challenge for me to speak in front of people. And here I have my own sixty year old son standing before the graduating class, has graduating class and all the parents and families and given

a threefold minute speech. Brother, did you wrote you do you? I come along way? Though I come along way. But the reality is that I had to move in degrees to be able to talk in front of people and in front of large groups. It didn't happen to me easily. Um. I had someone pushed me, he would you know, he would speak um, he would speak um. And he needed somebody to open for him. And he said, you know, Malie, going out there and give me two three minutes, just

warm up for me and then bring me up. So and I was like going out there stumbling, you know, nervous to see. But every week you will push me out there. At the study group. We used to have these leak books study groups and people would come, man, they would come all over and say we do it right into the bookstore and the leak book study group and I would open up to three minutes before the main person come on and speak about whatever it is that he wanted to talk to the people about that day.

And so what happened was it helped me with I still have some of those tapes, man, but it helped me. It helped me to look at an audience and speak and not be so nervous and petrified like I used to be. It was a challenge for me, brother, and it was I had a phobia doing it over. I still have it. You know, I get the butterflies, I get the nerve, but you know, if I gotta do it, I gotta do it. When I saw a life is and sometimes we we have to challenge our fears, man.

And that's where you at now. You're challenging your fears. Um, You're nervous and it's not necessarily fearful, but you're nervous. No, I was literally fearful to stand up and talking for the people. You could do it, brother, with no problem. You're not nervous. You enjoyed it. And it isn't the things where you know you enable thrill man. Yeah, yeah, you do that, man, You did that well, you did that brother in natural and so you know you're not You have that gift. Brother, you have that gift to

do that. So you put all your gifts together. Man, you make a wholesome pocket. This is where your life leads you to in your career. So you're putting it all together, you know. And so uh, kudos do you ishmael kudo's do you? Brother? Thank you appreciate that. Thank you for saying you're welcome, You're welcome, and so um you know, um, this was enjoyable. I really enjoyed the conversation we had, and all week to continue to have more.

I really enjoy um. We talked about a lot of substance and I think that some of the things we talked about it can be very helpful and useful to you know, others. So thank you Ishmael. Thank you for sharing. Yeah, of course, thank you. Let's talking to nice talking to you, and I'll have you on again on Malik's bookshow. Appreciate you man a housewife? What's your children are successful? And that's all you do? I shall pay for that. Yeah, but what joint of the households now? Today? It's not

living that word. Mom and dad works. Mom and dad does both the things shore clean fold should like our household, our hol absolutely like our household. Everybody has a duty and a chore. Now in order to make it work, one person shouldn't do everything. That's my mama said dad. Come on now, I'm preach. I noticed there right. Oh gosh, can anybody take any back back? All right and I'll bring it back out. Okay, break, How would you raise

your family? Yeah? I already land like hunging tomazine as eat. Everybody gets there own chores to do, yes, and take turns to doing the issue. Just one person doing it overord over, so so we can know who's turning into your dishuess coonsibly, I might have a calidar take a bit on turn days to be started. People doing different stuff. If like the dishes are it's like really dirty. If the stuff cloud up and it's like really dirty, they have to clean it, like that's a responsibility. Yeah, you

can't just walk by it. If if it's cloud up, you clean it. Yeah, don't, don't. Don't are actually not be like you know, actually we're not tattoo toor because we're always a clue. If I clean up for yourself, if you don't wash your plate, you're washing the dishes like it. And also when man make the art and the dishes the same thing in a dining room, thank you.

What if what if you have a partner or your husband and wife that chooses not the work and just choosing to do everything in the house so and chooses and do all the other responsibility. You just bring on the and you just bring on the paycheck. You can accept that. What if what if your husband wants you to be to do that? Yes yourself. You know she doesn't want to do that. She wants to be, she wants to having a career. That conversation, that's a conversation. Okay.

What if your husband says stop working feeling either getting to break it down, Okay, I'm one of my parent's house be stuck here a little? Or do you should say that you're a can be like I'm talking my brothers. You'll see who's she's gonna wint this? What about yours? Here? What if you'll to your woman? Besides? Are you guys coming to the agreement. I want to be a housewife. I don't want to do anything else but take care of the household. Would you be agreeable with that? Or

would you want someone more independent? I wouldn't agree to it because because I don't want her to do it all by herself and having nobody to hell? Would you bread? You go out, you make the bread, make you make the chat on you and she does everything else that's her contribution to the household. Would you be agreeable to me? Yeah? Well that's a situation is different, non agreed upon amongst your relationship. Don't worry about nobody else's. Whatever works to

your relationship, that's works to the alert relationship. I said it depends on the job. Okay, Um, if your job is a paying enough, you're gonna need her to be independent. Oh you better say it, or them and need your lover to be a tell you both make money, you both contract. That's to have contribute, contribute to the household and money from you. You know you're having the money, you have that money saved up, and that that's what

he or she still wants to do. I have and for sure you have money keeper gonna keep going and you know, keep saving, um, keep paying taxus. Uh, she keep going at him her wants. Okay, I like that. Now what if the shoe was on another foot? What if the man wants to stand? I say, that's a rad that's rare. But you know, I don't know a lot of people. Um for you, for me, I said, still the same. It depends on the job. Um. But if you're still working out like I don't know, half

time job or all time. But it's not hanging up enough. But it's some time. You know, you're a girl. You work hard, but they don't pay you enough. That it's true. Um, you're gonna have to h here. He's gonna have to do something other than you need the money. Yes, and if you guys don't get money, you know how you can pay back here. You won't have a room up.

That's fact. That's a fact, and awesome. You got to make some money, you piggy bank off you like like I would say, if your husband's like, there is something to you, like you can call me funny or any anyone else. You will because you've got our national protection, because it's that's what you're You're I'm getting the day you would you you're the younger. I couldn't like that. I know, I know, but I think I can also detect myself. See if I learn how to drive, I

could be out of there like like a flash. But but if if I have to say, I wouldn't get the phone, Like I'm out with a pizza pizza to day, I don't want to do the whole pizza, make anything, and I'll be like, see us, I'll leave and then you go get you know, he's gonna go to jail and yes, and and that's it. Yes's right. I like you. I'm not gonna go bash heself exactly exactly. I like this, he would say, I love you. I know it was

the day. Hey, I'm just sitting here taking it on in a fourteen year old and a fourth year old daughter sixteen year old son speaking in mind Mama asking them questions. Hey, table talk, dyning out, family night out. We're just having a good time. And we're chopping up music get in the background. Well, hey, you heard it. All coaching is very serious. And the commitment what I'm saying, did if the man's a sacrifice. And when I saw the spark in Mecca, I knew that it would require

a great sacrifice and a great commitment. And I wasn't ready for it. M I wasn't ready to put on her on that program I placed on Cafani. I wasn't ready to place that commitment on my family and on and on myself. And I saw the spark. I saw something that is sparked me and I wrestled with it day in and day. I am a mind and I I wasn't sure I wanted to go there again. But because my love for this not only the sport before my child, I knew that that sacrifice will be worth it.

The obstacle for me was to get her to see that it's worth it, to get her to believe in the sacrifice, to get her to want to make that same sacrifice, because it demands, it demands all of you, not part of you. It demands because eight percent of his mental you can have all the physical ability which I saw, which I saw and I saw that she had a strength in her mind because the run of

eight hundred meters required a certain mindset. That's a hard race, it's a demanding race, and that's what you know if it A lot of my frustration sometimes come because I see in her what she doesn't see in herself, and my job as a father, as a coach is to try to help her to see was in her and

to believe in her before she believed in herself. And that it's a challenge sometimes because everybody's a lock and you have to have a key to the master key to unlocked the treasures in you, the gifts in you, and that's where the psychology coming out. That's what I say as a coach, and I've been a damn good one. I had to get into the mind and get into the head and get the most out of the athlete in order to in order for them two tap into their glory and their greatness. You know. So, man, I

just saw myself. I saw what we go through as a family, where we go through as a coach, where we go through as a father, where we go through as an anthlete. Man, you know, I'm just so Yeah, it was in the man of the commitment. And I didn't have her on that program, you know what I'm saying. But I wanted still the same results, and I got frustrated when she didn't before, like I know she could and what's because based on what's in her but not.

And then but I was miscalculating because I realized that I didn't put her on that program. You know what I'm saying. I gave her a part of the program because I didn't want to burn her out. I didn't want to see I learned from Califani. I learned, you know, and he didn't burn out. But the things that I knew from that journey, and that was over a decade long journey of sacrifice and commitment and pushing in wasn't

the excellence and to get the most. And so but I saw that spot and I wrestled with it, baby like wrestling with a bare ninth day, trying to like, oh man, I think that gift there. You know that you above average and we're not even Harley practicing. You out here with nothing in your tent and you out here competing and you know, above average with all these other athletes. But I saw an in it and I used to say that I didn't on I saw Monday, our Sunday work out what we were for years, Every

Sunday we gonna work out as a family. I said, baby, she got something in earth, you know what I'm saying. And I didn't pull the trigger, and I said, let's just go out. Let's just go to one of me unless see where she at. And she was a bull average It's just like I said, and a serious attitude like I can't be beat. You know. I think she won her heats, but based on her time, you know, she was above average. And I said, wow, when you want to reach that next level, it demands a commitment

both physically and mentally. It demands a sacrifice. You're gonna miss out on birthday parties, You're gonna miss out wound thing, doing things with your friends. You're gonna miss out on you know, other opportunities and things that you get invited to, what have you. It's just a because your schedule is your plan, you know too, and your schedule is just gonna be and you gotta zone in on it, and you like every practice matter, Yes, you gotta tweak to

make exceptions. You know what I'm saying based upon certain things, but it's a priority. And you know what, as a former athlete, other people who maybe not have been an athlete, they might not understand that sacrifice, that commitment that you know it's required in order to reach that that level to be a champion, to be great, to stand out. All of these things come with a push, a vision, a goal, a plan. Man, long hours, man, We will

go to some of them. Track meets wake up is dark and you leave and you get home, it's dark, and you're out there all day to watch three four races right to three fall races for your fifteen seconds of fame. And you out there ten eleven, twelve hours just to watch a few races. Man, And you do a year in a year out, year in a year out, and you stick to the plan. Why nobody else believe in it? Nobody else around you, nobody else. They're looking at you sideways. I asked, somebody tell me, I asked,

somebody tell me. I don't even know why you're doing all that, because when they get a little old, they're gonna do it anyway. But that's your dream. That ain't my dream. That ain't what I see. That ain't my what I expect. I believe they're gonna stay the course. I believe they're gonna believe in themselves one day and want to do this and right their ticket and right

their future. So to see Calfani becomes state champion in California, running up with the sophomore, got second place in the Want to Meets two hunters, and then when he became a junior and a senior, he became state champion in California in the one hundred and two. It is junior senior back to back in California, only have one state champion, and we're the biggest state in the country, so they merge every school, whether large whether small, Only one gonna

be a hundred meters state champ. Only one gonna be the two hundred meter state champion. Team win the state championship. So for that that happened, that took sacrifice, that took years. Oh sweat, money, commitment, pain, guts, glory man, baby, those were some fun times. And to see him get a scholarship two cow to see him to the University of California, Berkeley, and to beat and to play football and then get

drafted by the Tennessee Titans. You know, all of these things started at five years old, a dream, a plan, and to see that happen, you know, it's almost unreal to be you know, get drafted in the NFL, you know, play football in the NFL, graduate on, you know, get a scholarship, you know those scholarships three folk Fi thousand dollars, and get a degree from you, I mean your university, California, Berkeley, you know. Then and then go on and start his

own business. And you know that that you can't. You gotta be proud as a father, you know, you gotta be proud as a parent, you know what I mean. But it took sacrifice, and I made sure he don't forget that. This commitment took all of us. This commitment took all of us was on this journey. All of us felt the pain, all of us felt the sacrifice. All of us felt the journey. And we filth it when you won, we filth it when you're lost. We feel every single bit of this because it requires unity,

It requires us as a whole to be committed. When we won that first title in the statement, that four by one relay, and we wondered the four by one relay. You know, I said in them stands and cried because all the years, you know, just flashed before me. Me and but brother j we just fell. We started crying, his son on the first leg, my son on the anchor, and we won the four by one and we cried. Man. Right,

I had a moment there. You know, it was just to see because it was all of pain, all the socrifice. It's just flash. It broke you down. We went only won the state title that year, he won the hundred wanted two U when the winning the state California state Try and field title. He went on to college and then my baby girl, I saw something I saw and I said, baby, I see something, manum. I don't think she understands that. And we just started working a little

by little. I didn't want to put it on that same I didn't want to put it on that find Mohammed plan her bear a girl. I said, you know we're gonna start slow. You don't burner out. You know, I didn't put that nas that extra you know, you know when you're right there, man, you're battling, and you gotta chop into the soul and boom when you explode, right, I didn't put that in. I didn't put it in. I put it in there, you know, because she was still young. I don't want to burn her out. And

you gotta be strategic, you gotta have tactics. My crazy but went down to San Diego. How was she? M hmm, probably about nine at no, yeah, nine at the time she was nine. Baby went down there, ain't ran but a couple of meets right, went down and made the eight hunted. She was nine years old, made uh the regional Junior Olympic finals in the eight hunted top five go to the Junior Olympics to run against the best in the country. And I gave my baby a strategy.

You know, kids don't listen sometimes, you know, they had their own mind. They do it the way they want to do it, no matter what. So she did. She went out there and she did her old stratagy, didn't listen to mine. Ended up seventh. We didn't make it to the Junior Olympics UM Championships that year, got seventh, and I felt disappointed, and I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have, But at the time I just couldn't see what's she

done here? The all these girls out there had been training all season, and here my baby girl ain't hardly trained at all. And she in the finals to qualify for the Junior Olympics Championship and ended up seventh place. And instead of me being joyful and happy, is proud and picking her up and spinning around and kissing all on the upset. That's that competitives that stuck impetitive in me. We're allowed that to consume me. And missed the moment. I missed the moment that I could have had with

my baby. I missed the moment that I couldn't embrace with my baby. And let me tell you something, history is always gonna repeat itself until you get it right, until you get it right, and you gotta enjoy those moments, even when it comes with my loss. But it wasn't a loss. It was a win. And here I'm walking back. I see my boy Steve. He said, my Homed, what's that? What's up? I said, what's up? Man? You know man,

I ain't feeling well right now. Man, my baby ain't making through the literally, he said, what like, you don't even got her on that Muhammed program. She y'all here running brother with no hardy, no training like these other groups. Man, I've been out here all year. You should be extudied. And that woke me up. I said, God, don it, God do it. You're right, said brother, she ain't on that program. Brother, you said yourself. You're you holding her

back because you don't want to burn her out. So you can't expect those kind of results if you know you ain't put that kind of training up under her to get that kind of performance. I said, you're right. Whether you're right, I was asking for them possible, but that's just the way champions are. We asked, was unaskedable, So yes, I was a world class Brenner so height, so yeah, I did. I asked for what I asked for what was impossible. Because of the situation. I didn't

train her with you know, like these other girls. We started late. I didn't. We didn't work out a whole lot. So what we've done was incredible and I shouldn't embrace that moment. But I made it up to him, you know. I woke up and got my stuff together and went over there, embraced their and what have you, and we went out eight and had a good time and enjoy it. I had to get there though, because I go hard. Man. When I get I go hard, I expect a lot, you know, And I pushed a lot because I believe

in greatness. I believe in winning. Two more years go by, he turney Levin, and I realized that this year, I'm gonna do things a little different. I'm gonna train a little more. But I don't want to train and sessive what. But what I wanna do is put that extra inmmer. Put that what I call that extra that nas and that explosive the inner. I want to put something in her that when she needs to dig deep into her soul,

she will find it there. And she won't just find locking acid and being locked up, but she will find that extra gear. So we started a little early. I strategically did the workout, but I know we're still not training. You know, I'm gonna, like I said, hey, you know, when you get to high school, they train every day, you got meets every week. I'm still gonna let you experience is that I'm not gonna put that level of training on you until you get the card. I'm gonna

letting you've experienced out in high school. But I tweeked it a little. I made some adjustments, and you know, each week, each month, we're getting better and better. Um, we got a strong team, we got a strong region in California. You know, we got a lot of dogs out here in California. You got a lot of strong athletes, you know. So then we went on. We got third in our in our region, made it to the Junior Olympics.

So off to the Junior Olympics. But you know why, we were in the room and we you know, we ran in the in the semifinals and we we got second and our heat we had to going into the finals. We had the fourth best time. And you know, she's eleven years old. But I told my baby, I said, baby, I know two years ago when you went into your soul. And I said this too, I said, listen, I know two years ago, and I should tell you then. I used to tell you that too, about when Metha tapped

into her soul when she was nine. I didn't put that extra in her, and so she hit that wall and she hit a level of fame that she was like, whoa locked up, you know, with legs, can't boo and all that because in her mind was like, I mean, this girl can't beat me. And so when the girl made a move, she made a move. When the girl made a move, she made a move. And then they kept just battling, bottling and then booling mac and hit that wall. Maca hit that wall right, that lack of

the astra hit she couldn't move. Ran her best time, but she didn't have that extra in the soul that you need when you want to tap in. I didn't put it there because I wanted to training. But two years later, I said, you know, you're Levin. We're back to the kind of same situation. You went from being a bound now you're what they call him, Midge Leving

and twelve year old the age division. So I said, you know, I'm gonna let I'm gonna put some menu so when you tap into that soul, it's gonna be there. So we had to Julian Olympis No. She finished. She got the fourth best time going into the finals in the eight hundred meters. Then you know, we're in a hotel and I'm talking to in the room and I'm just saying we had you know, I said, baby, I know what you're afraid of. You're afraid of hitting that

wall again. You're afraid of taped into your soul and given everything you have and you that pain that you felt and you when you hit that wall, you're afraid of that. You don't need to be afraid of that anymore because I strategically placed in you a hitting gym. It's in you all. You got to do that strategically. Talk about our plan. If you run race like I'm telling you, don't do it your way, do it my way. I know you're like to go out here sometimes and do it your way. This is it. I told her

the strategy. I said, Now, our weakness is that third two hundred. That third two that's when she the girl they're gonna make the move. That's when you have to make your move and you have to be in striking range. So back to six hundred meter mark, the last two hundred, that's when what I put in you you can tap into. And but we got to be at sixty five seconds the first lap. So Hey, for the first time in two years, I saw her mind set before the race.

I said, I think she's gonna do it. I think she believes now, and I think she's gonna tap into her true give and so man, they took off Man and they took off Man. He was running that first lap and she hit that market sixty seven in the first lap and the girl made a move. I said she gonna run in the curb, run out and said, look, you got to go with her. That second two hunting, that's when you like the rest. Can't do it, stay in the race, you gotta stay close down the back stretch.

And the third two hunting, she made her move with the girl. The girl made her move. She took the lead going into the curb, the third curb, and then coming out the curb, MacCAM made a move going down that back stretch. Man. It took the lead on the girl going into the last curve the last two hunting to the girl tried to make another move to go around Mecca from lane two to get back in one, and Mecca didn't let her get it. She They took off on that last curve like they was running a

huntred meters. Mccam took off with her back, Mecca took off with her. It came out that curve and the girl couldn't couldn't keep up with Mecca, and Mecca kept on going and down that home stretch, the girl met about fifty to go. She she just Mecca took her soul, took her soul and ran it on in and became the Junior Olympic champion in the eight hundred meters. Broke broke a grown man down in the stands of crying because I knew it was there. I knew it, but I had to get her to believe it. I had

to get hurt. I had to get her to buy into it was there. And when she typed into the soul, it was there. That's when the god come out of you. That's when the God rises up. When you tap into the soul. You pushed the body and the mind beyond the limits that when the greatness come out. You can't be great unless you top into that soul. You got to go when you haven't been before. You got to bleed that you can do it. You got to know you can do it. You got to want to do it.

And on that day, Mecca tapped into the soul, dropped folks seconds in that final. It ran two nineteen as of the eleven year old in the eight hundreds and became the Junior Olympic champion. That was a high point in my life too, and board that was a lot of joy to see that win. But he came with a lot of sacrifice. He came with a lot of pain. My baby told me her last enough. I couldn't feel nothing, couldn't hill nothing. But she did it. She did and I said, baby, I'm so proud. And I told her,

hugged her, picked her. Uh And let me tell you this is that, I said. You know, when you win like that, pain feel good. When you win like that, the pain go away a whole lot faster. When you win like that, you become champion, baby, because all of your world winners, when you got to the finals, to get to the junior, you're already to winner. You're already above average. But it only gonna be one champion. But everybody is a winner in the race, everybody, but it's

only gonna be one champion. And that's who show up that day, that moment, because success is only a moment of time. Enjoyed when you have it, because it don't last forever. But when you have of it, celebrated, enjoy every minute of it because it goes quick, but it takes years to get to take a lot of pain to get whoa a lot of hard work they get, but enjoy it when you have it and move on to the next because man, just reflecting on, you know, memories of our past, they bring a lot of joys.

And I've done a lot of things in my life and these things that I'm talking about is just some of the highlights that I can say that I appreciate, you know, my involvement in the commitment that went into it. It wasn't in vain, you know, even if we never had one, is not in vague because everything we do still got meaning and purpose because everything we learned along the way we can still use in other ways in

our lives to make it better and greater. So a look back is that, you know, whether we wanted or lost, it still was a win. It still was glory, it still was a lesson. It's still was something to be gaining. And experience is the best teacher. You know. You can you can talk to talk, but you gotta run the race. You know you could be you know, you gotta be in the game to be part of the game. Game

on the sideline. So it's just you know, every every we learned from every single thing we do, we gain experience. We gain experience, and you got the experience is the best teacher. So whatever came out of that, it's just a part of our journey and how we evolved and how we learned and how we grow. Because is there is no growing pains without I guess I don't wanna say there is no pain without growing. Right, you gotta to grow, you gotta have plain. So that's why we

call it the growing pains. What that means is what all the things that it took in order to grow. Alright, I hope you got somebody of this. Boy, I know it was long winded, but I had a lot to say. But the most important thing I hope you got out of this is it experiences the best teacher, and they're growing pains is a part of life. No matter what endevil you're in, no matter what you are doing in your life, there's gonna be growing pains. Peace,