A Legacy Of Belief (The Friday Ficks S6 E11)

Quoting Danish author Isak Dinesen 12 years ago this month, I started my mother’s eulogy by telling those gathered that “All sorrows can be borne if you tell a story about them.”

So today, I’ll tell a short one.

My mom was a collection of wonderful contradictions. She was an aquatic daredevil, yet she didn’t like to fly. She’d sit and play the piano for hours, yet had to stand while watching her beloved Providence College Friars play basketball. She ironed bed sheets, yet never offered a cogent explanation for this habit (one which still baffles her children). She loved church hymns, yet stealthily adored Jimmy Buffett.

But this story isn’t about quirks or fun but rather, an enduring story of persistence.

Later in life, she successfully pursued her Associate’s degree one class at a time, guided by a small piece of marble she kept close, one engraved with “Achievement Begins With Belief.”

Shortly before she passed, a dean from her college told her grandchildren that “She wanted to be an example for you - to show that with hard work you can achieve anything you want in life.”

Achievement isn’t always loud. Sometimes it looks like persistence. Sometimes it looks like finishing something you started long ago. And sometimes it looks like quietly becoming the example others didn’t even know they needed.

So here’s something to ponder: What do you believe you’re capable of - but haven’t yet begun?

If my mom were here, she’d probably offer you the same advice she modeled and the legacy she left behind.

Believe first. Start today. Then watch what becomes possible.

Own the day. Own the weekend.

Carl