never take all you have for granted

http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/main/biography.htm

i have just spent the day at a seminar called "the power within" and one of the speakers was chris gardner- the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, was based on his life story. imagine trying to make a life with a toddler in tow and living homeless in the streets of new york. his words captured me profoundly and his story is shocking. check out his site.

The amazing story of Gardner’s life was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, (Amistad/Harper Collins) on May 23, 2006, and became a New York Times and Washington Post #1 bestseller. Gardner is also the inspiration for the movie The Pursuit of Happyness released by Columbia Pictures. Always hard working and tenacious, a series of circumstances in the early 1980’s left Gardner homeless in San Francisco and the sole guardian of his toddler son. Unwilling to give up Chris Jr. or his dream of financial independence, Gardner started at the bottom. Without connections or a college degree, he earned a spot in the Dean Witter Reynolds training program. Often spending his nights in a church shelter or the bathroom at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland, Gardner was the sole trainee offered a job at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1981. He spent 1983-1987 at Bear Stearns & Co., where he became a top earner, and then in 1987, he founded the brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co. in Chicago.

Born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Gardner never knew his father. He lived with his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner, whom he adored, and, when necessary, in foster homes. Despite a life of hardship and emotional scarring, his mother provided him with strong “spiritual genetics” and taught him some of the greatest lessons of his life, which he follows to this day. Bettye Jean convinced him that in spite of where he came from, he could attain whatever goals he set for himself by saying, “If you want to, one day you could make a million dollars.” Gardner believed this to be fact, and knew he would have to find a career he could be passionate about, and one that would allow him to “be world-class at something.”

a truly inspiring story despite the hollywierd adaptation.

the comment “spiritual genetics” was a particular moment of awareness for me...what genetics do i have?
i know this: my father said it.."i got three kids..and they will all learn what each other knows, that way no matter what the world throws at them they shall be ready". so my understanding of the physical world and relating to people is because my father never saw us as gender specific...no girls vs boys, the messages my brothers learned i learned..."work hard, respect all and never, ever , let anyone tell you you cant do something"

today i can change an engine in a car or sell snow to eskimos..and fold laundry and cook a decent meal....and so can my brothers.

i ask, what are your spiritual genetics?