Some memories come at you from seemingly nowhere. That’s where this one came from. I remember getting my first pair of tennis shoes. I was so excited. To me, getting my first pair of tennis shoes meant that I could run faster. Actually I thought no one could beat me in a race. So I challenged my dad to a race back to our house. We marked up to the line and suddenly we started running. To my disappointment he beat me.

Although disappointed I never lost the urge to run. I enjoyed many years of track, football and baseball, all sports requiring running talent. What I learned from that day forward, however, was that hard work and sweat produced greater results than a new pair of flashy tennis shoes.