“Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”
-Corinthians 1:14
Last year, Dr. Ben Carson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom– the nation’s highest civilian honor– for his inspirational and groundbreaking work as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital. It was the icing on a beautiful cake of accomplishments that read like a cliche pedigree of success: graduated top of his class in high school, star undergrad student at Yale, superior surgeon at University of Michigan med school, followed shortly by attaining head surgeon status at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world… all by the age of 32.
And yet, Ben Carson’s story is anything but a cliche. He was born in Detroit, the younger of two brothers. His mother Sonya, dropped out of school in the third grade, married when she was only 13, and divorced when Ben was eight. They grew up poor, in a boarded up multi-family tenement plagued by sirens, gangs, rats and roaches. By the 5th grade, Ben and his brother were at the bottom of their class. Students teased him mercilessly for being “stupid”. His teachers became accustomed to passing out quizzes and expecting Ben to not get a single question right.
It was no surprise when Ben developed a violent temper. His anger at his situation, at his constant failure, at the hopelessness of limited opportunity started to lead Ben down a dark and dangerous path. His mother pulled him back.
Determined to turn her lives sons around, Sonya limited the boy’s television watching. She forced them to finish their school work before going outside to play. And she instated her own homework regiment, requiring the boys to borrow and read two books a week from the local library and then follow-up with a written report (even though she herself could not read what they had written).
Within a few weeks, Ben was impressing his classmates with the scientific names of igneous rocks. By years end, he was the top student in the class. From that point on, the hard work never stopped. He read voraciously on all subjects. Learned to control his destructive temper. Graduated with honors and an acceptance letter to Yale. Pulled himself up, inch by inch until looking back years later, he realized almost with stunned surprise that he had scaled the mountain.
He’s written three acclaimed books: a memoir “Gifted Hands”, and two motivational novels, “Think Big” and “The Big Picture:Getting Perspective on What’s Really Important in Life“. His breakthroughs in the field of Neurosurgery have opened the way to new techniques and operations that save hundreds of lives. He himself has personally saved hundreds of terminal patients, sacrificing personal life for a rigorous 12-13 hour schedule to maximize the amount of patients he can treat.
He’s received countless awards. Numerous honors. Cuba Gooding Jr. portrayed him in an inspirational movie “Gifted Hands” based on his memoirs. Many consider him a miracle worker. But Ben Carson views himself in more humble terms.
“There is no such thing as a average human being. If you have a normal brain, you are superior.”
Dedicating his life to healing others, Ben also created the Carson Scholars Fund to provide $1000 college scholarships to inner city kids as young as the 4th grade. Located in 26 states, Carson’s Fund gave out more than 600 scholarships in 2008 alone.
An extremely religious man, Ben attributes his many successes to a deep rooted well of gratitude. In his own words:
“To me gratitude means that every day and every hour instead of complaining about things, instead of saying, “Poor me,” and instead of thinking about the problems I may have on any given day…I’m grateful. Just saying, “So what if I have a flat tire? At least I have a car. (laughter) So what if I am hungry! At least I know I have a place where I can go and eat.” It really doesn’t matter what the thing is because it could be so much worse. That’s really the attitude that gratitude gives you. It gives you the glass-is-half-full mentality. That keeps you in a positive frame of mind. And when you are in a positive state of mind you can transmit that to other people”
We are all gifted. We all have talents and miracles to give to the world. But it starts with positivity. It starts with a sense of perspective, of belief in self. And of constant, conscious gratitude. Lift yourself up so that you may reach back and help lift others behind you. And remember that positivity, sincerity and kindness are infectious and always trickle up.
Thank you Ben Carson for the shining example!
always merry & bright,
Aaron
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