"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every
opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Churchill is one of my great heroes, along with former
South African President, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
What all these people have in common is that each one of them was
or is a very positive person, looking to overcome adversity rather
than succumbing to it.
When I was very young my mother died of cancer and my father worked
long hours in a mine. It taught me that in order to succeed in life,
one needs to work hard and to make a choice to look at things positively.
Every morning when I wake up, I make a conscious decision to have
a good day, to find the good in people and to have a positive impact
on everyone that I come into contact with. This attitude has helped
me throughout my golfing career, where I was perhaps not the most
talented, or the biggest or the strongest, but I certainly had the
determination to succeed.
Now that I am 70, there is no reason to change this way of thinking.
Perhaps my days of winning major championships are over, but making
a difference in people's lives is not. If more world leaders could
find a way to lead their people this way, perhaps we would have fewer
conflicts around the globe. Now wouldn't that be wonderful?
