Dallas Crilley’s Kidpreneur Blog — Ways Kids and Teens Can Make Money

The Story:

As a child growing up in a foreign country, Barry Soetoro remembers feeling disconnected.  He was African-American, but he was living in Indonesia and didn’t look like his friends.

Barry was taller than the other kids but that didn’t stop others from picking on him.  He remembers coming home with a lump on the side of his head after he got in a fight with an older kid.

He would spend much of his life fighting — fighting to prove that people should not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.

His third grade teacher gave all of her students an assignment titled “What I Want To Be In The Future.”  Barry wrote, “I want to be President.”  If you don’t know who I’m talking about, then you probably don’t know that as an adult he took his father’s name, Barack Obama. And on Tuesday that little boy’s dream comes true.

The Secret:

Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama used society’s prejudices to fuel his passion.  Perhaps had he lived in a different set of circumstances he wouldn’t have been as driven.

He knew that the important thing was not the number of times that you get knocked down, it’s about how many times you get back up.  Everyone should have something worth fighting for.

Now It’s Your Turn:

Motivational speaker Les Brown once said that you should never let someone’s opinion of you become your reality.  On Monday we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, and on Tuesday we celebrate the inauguration of the first African American President of the United States.

Maybe it’s time for you to start dreaming with your eyes wide open.