A friend sent me a quote about “Excellence” by Marva Collins, which inspired me to dig deeper and get to know the originator of the quote. If you haven’t heard of Marva Collins, you need to – just knowing her story will touch your heart, as it has mine.

This is the quote that first got my attention: “Excellence is not an act but a habit. The things you do the most are the things you will do the best.”  This resonated me, because it reminded me of my outlook that you get what you focus on. It also reinforced the concept of forming habits, which for me has been an absolute necessity in thriving with a traumatic brain injury.

That just scratches the surface, when it comes to Marva Collins. She started her own school in 1975 for kids who were spit out by the Chicago inner city public school system, and labeled as being “learning disabled” or “problem children.”

Which brings me to another one of her quotes: “I have discovered few learning disabled students in my three decades of teaching. I have, however, discovered many, many victims of teaching inabilities.”

The most inspiring example to me, of her efforts, was about a little girl that the public schools labeled “borderline retarded,” which was the terminology used in 1975. She was taken in by Marva the first year she opened Westside Preparatory School. That little girl grew up to graduate college as Suma Kum Laude.

Have you ever been labeled as “disabled,” or something else?  Don’t buy into it.

Years ago I started using the term “differently-abled” as my own way of reprograming the damage a label can do. Stand Up. Be Proud. And Shine.

by Fantastic Frank Johnson
Author of “From Flawed to Fantastic”

PS – Do you need an Inspirational Speaker? Check out my site and get in touch to see if I have your dates available http://www.fantasticfrankjohnson.com/speaker/