Eileen was in her late teens when she awakened to the sound of German bombers. It was the Fall of 1940 and the Luftwaffe had started its relentless nightly bombing campaign in the skies over her home in London.

     Katie was a world class sailor who, during a race from Portugal to South Africa encountered a violent and unexpected storm. Her boyfriend was swept overboard
and drowned. She had to set aside her sadness and fear as she made life and death decisions critical for her survival.

     Verlan spent his childhood laboring with his sharecropper father in an effort to survive during the great depression. Later, he served in Europe with the US Army tank core during World War II.

     Eileen, Katie, and Verlan all shared one thing in common; their experiences taught them any obstacle could be overcome with perseverance and optimism. Their extreme experiences would eventually become the standard against which all others would be measured. Furthermore, their ability to endure instilled a level of self-confidence that would sustain them the rest of their life.

     Eileen was my mother, and while growing up she was always cheerful and optimistic no matter how daunting the challenge. She had survived 56 consecutive days and nights listening to jarring explosions around her. Over 20,000 civilians died and over a million homes were destroyed in London. In audio recordings of her experiences, she remarked that nothing could ever be as bad as those months of uncertainty thereby developing a confidence that any future challenge could be overcome. I met Katie when she was a member of the all female crew that competed in the 2001-2002 round the world Volvo Ocean Race.
She and her team stayed at Saddlebrook Resort to train on our Executive Challenge Course. When I asked about her coping strategies for dealing with stress, she laughed. “After surviving the storm off the coast of Africa, nothing bothers me anymore.” I posed the same question to Verlan Kruger, who had completed an epic 27,000 mile canoe trip from Lake Michigan, down the Pacific coast, around Cape Horn, up the Atlantic to the Florida Keys and eventually back to the Great Lakes. He went on to explain how after growing up not knowing
where the next meal would come, followed by the constant threat of death on the battle fields of Europe, nothing phased him anymore.

 
     Their stories are inspirational. So is that of Donnie Cochran, an African-American boy growing up on his parents farm in rural Georgia. During long hours tending the animals and crops, he would dream of one day flying when the occasional plane would pass overhead. How did he overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to not only fly, but become the first African-American commanding officer and flight leader of the elite Blue Angels aerobatic team? You can ask him on May 25th at this year’s district conference. Captain Donnie Cochran will be one of the featured speakers. I’m bringing my grandchildren so they can meet this amazing man and learn first-hand that with perseverance and optimism, dreams can indeed become a reality.