Making a Difference
I was speaking to my uncle this week regarding a recent death in the family. As is often the case with these types of discussions the concept of personal legacy and a meaningful life came up. I told my uncle that a hundred years from now if even a single person knew that I ever existed, I would consider my life successful. Think about that for a moment.
Now I’m not talking about inventing warp drive, cold fusion or even a longer lasting light bulb. I am talking about making such a significant difference in one person’s life that the effects of that encounter carried forward to generations to come. Now think about that for a moment.
One might think making such an impact on a single person would require a momentous event, one that involves a chorus of heavenly voices and beams of sunlight breaking through the clouds to forever illuminate the very grounds of the life altering event. It does not. I firmly believe that the course of a human life can be changed with a word, a willing ear or even a simple smile.
The belief that “I can” make a difference is the reason I am so grateful to be an instructor at Elite Training Center. Being an instructor provides me the opportunity to make that difference. I have seen people who came through the doors of the school beaten and broken by the world outside transformed into confident, successful people of conscience and strong moral fortitude. The type of person, which in turn goes out and makes a difference in somebody else’s life.
Now to be honest, it’s not just the instructors at Elite Training Center that make the “difference”. It’s actually the school itself, the supportive environment that Shihan has cultivated and the sense of community amongst the students. Think about it this way, for at least one hour a day each student can come into the school and leave their troubles at the edge of the mat. They are greeted warmly by the instructors and their fellow classmates, and just maybe during that hour somebody says or does just one thing that makes a difference when that student puts their shoes back on to go face the world outside. Maybe it was the feeling of success in mastering a single technique, maybe it was a kind or encouraging word from a fellow student or maybe it was just receiving a genuine smile and hello in the hallway. You never know what will positively impact a person life at any particular moment. I had a football coach that used to always say, “It’s the little things that really matter.” I’m not sure if he was always speaking with regards to football, but he was right.
So, whether you are a student of Elite Training Center, an instructor or (dare I say) even the owner, I ask you; What do you want your personal legacy to be and how are you going to make a difference in somebody else’s life…….today?
Instructor William Green
ECCE·EGO·MITTE·ME
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Elite Training Center
1628 South Pacific Coast Highway,
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 543-1600
www.elitetrainingcenter.net
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