Michelle Guidry responding to John Wooden on True Success

It is always good to listen to our elders speak on lessons that they have learned throughout their lives.  These good old fashion words of wisdom teach us how to apply life lessons to today's modern world.  John Wooden was a Language Teacher in the 1930's and later a coach.  I found it interesting the way he put it that not all people are created equal.  So many times you hear that everyone is created the same and I feel that this is not quite true.  What he said was that people are not created with the same intellegence, height, or gifts and talents.  Everyone has potential and can achieve success as long as you be the best that you can be.  He shared that his father taught he and his brothers not to try to be better than anyone else.  They should focus on being the best that they can be and try to learn from others.  Your character must be more important that what others percieve you to be.  In today's world this is so far from the way people think.  You have to be the best, beat others to the top, make more money than others, or win the race to be successful.  If you try to be better than others or concentrate so much on what others have or do, it will eventually destroy your own gifts and talents and not allow you to reach your full potential.  In education, he felt that students learned best from the teachers themselves, not the number of books on the shelf.  I feel this is true today.  I know for certain that I bring a certain elements of myself to my students that you cannot find in a book or through technology.  I feel that if I try to be my best self everyday, I add value to my student's lives through my stories and positive outlook.  Often times, I look at my younger co-workers and wish I were more tech saavy or understood how to quickly look up information and apply new and fresh activities to my teaching bag of tricks, but then I think of my 21 years of experience and what I bring to the table and know that I have something that they do not.  Not that it is better, but it is my best self.  I am patient and John shared that this was a very important trait to have.  If we constantly strive to be better, then success will come in time.  It is not always about the end, but about the journey.  When you reach your own full potential, then you are successful.  I agree with this!!!  I enjoyed this video.