A while ago a friend told me about an encounter his son had at school. He was eating his lunch and minding his own business when another boy approached him. A boy with a well-earned reputation for violence.
As my friend's son braced himself, the other boy quietly sat besidehim. It turned out he was after some advice.
"All my family and friends are telling me I should join the gang. But I'm not sure that's the best thing for me. I know that you make pretty good decisions when you're playing rugby so I thought I'd ask you what you think?" (Maybe not said as succinctly as that - but that was the gist of it.)
My friend's son told him he had to decide between violence, dysfunction and prison - or a life different to that he had grown up with. The fact the question was asked revealed that boy yearned for something better, but was unsure if it were possible. You could say he was looking for hope; and some better options.
Some people have a better start in life than others, for various reasons. But it doesn't matter who you are, life will throw tough stuff at you. The test is how you respond. Dr Viktor Frankl thought about this when he found himself in a Nazi death camp. He concluded that no matter how bad things are, no matter what is taken away from you - no one can take away your ability to choose how you will respond to what life sends your way.
If you search around, you will find hundreds of amazing stories about people who overcame the odds because of one critical decision about choice.
Nelson Mandela's greatness began when he chose not to be bitter, and not to give up.
Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketballers, put it this way: "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
