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If you watched her at a track meet, you would see three things: power, grace, and beauty. While only a Freshman, Charlotte Brown is an academic star, and she has cleared heights in the pole vault that no female at Rains High School in Emory, Texas ever has.

“I’d definitely consider myself very competitive. And I think a lot of that comes from my older brothers. They are never giving me a break.” Competitive she is. When talking about her first track coach, Charlotte said, “Our coach was pretty harsh. He was like…there’s no excuses…you are going to run and you are going to be good at it… and you are gonna like it, and if you don’t, you can leave.”

What Charlotte said next summed up the real secret to her success: “It’s easier to run hard than to have to think about an excuse.”

What’s incredible is that Charlotte would not have to think very hard to come up with an excuse because she is legally blind.

When describing her sight, she said, “When I look out right now, I see a pin dot of white, which I guess is the grass. And it’s blurry… kinda like looking through a coffee stirrer.”

Running is not the only thing Charlotte never makes excuses about. She doesn’t make excuses about carrying extra large text books, or that she has to use a talking calculator, or use a magnifier to make the pages of her books and any paper work huge so she can barely read it.

Her mental toughness comes from her parents who say it’s her job to recognize and overcome problems. The phrase “no excuses” has been the family motto right from the beginning.

Charlotte’s mother said, “One of the first conversations we ever had with Charlotte [was] when she was about three. We told her at that time, everyone struggles with something in their life. Everyone has something in their life that they have to overcome in this world, and her vision was going to be her something, and she might as well figure it out and move on. And… she did.”

Charlotte was born with natural vision, but quickly developed infant cataracts. Her sight went back and forth between good and bad until sixth grade when she lost most of her sight. It is now 20/-400.

So, how does Charlotte pole vault? First, she gets a little help from Ulala. Ulala is a tennis ball with a smiley face and wig attached to a spike Charlotte puts in the ground to help match her path. Ulala sits exactly at her 14th step away from the bar. She starts with her foot touching Ulala and plants the pole on her 14th step, not seeing where she is going.

When she trains, she runs on the inside lane where she can barely make out the contrast between the grass and track. Her cross country teammates wear bells on their shoes so she can follow. She even plays on the basketball team. She counts her steps and listens to the ball. Watching her play, you’d have no idea she cannot see.
Her parents never told her she could not do something. Instead, they always asked her, “HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO IT?” …and she always came up with the answers.

Here are some more wise words from Charlotte, “I don’t think disability should be in the dictionary. That’s a dumb word. A disability is something that limits you or stops you from being able to do the things you want to do. And I don’t think anything, even if it’s vision impairment, should stop you.”

The last teeny, tiny bit of sight that Charlotte has could be gone at any moment. So, what is holding you back? What are you worried about today? Charlotte’s story sure helps put life in perspective.

There were two YouTube videos that went viral not too long ago. Well… sort of…
One video got hundreds of thousands of views. Maybe even a million. The other only got about 12,000 views. The one that got so many more views was of a little kid, maybe 10 or 12 years old. The kid got an iPod for

Christmas. The kid went crazy, but not in a good way. He threw a complete tantrum because it was the wrong color. The other video was of a young woman named Dawn Loggins. Dawn was abandoned by her mother and father. They decided to take off one day to Tennessee and leave their teenage daughter in North Carolina. Most teenagers

would crumble, but not Dawn. Dawn is different. Dawn used it as motivation.
“I’m not mad at my parents. My mom and my step dad both think that they did what was best for me,” she says.

“I just realized that they have their own problems that they need to work through… They do love me; I know they love me. They just don’t show it in a way that most people would see as normal.”

Dawn got a part-time job as a janitor at her school and worked long, hard hours. She stayed at different friend’s homes and slept on couches and floors.

These couches and floors were better than the broken-down house she grew up in that no longer had running water. It is reported that Dawn often went weeks without taking a shower. She had to walk 20 minutes to a park to get water to cook with and flush the toilet. Teachers at school gave Dawn candles so she could do her homework at night.

In a typical day, she was up at 5:20 a.m. to get to school by 6:00 a.m. where she would work for 2 hours as a janitor at her high school. Then, she would go to her day of classes that includes AP (Advanced Placement) U.S. History, AP Calculus, and Honors English, along with her clubs and other activities. As soon as the school day was over, she worked as a janitor for a couple more hours. Then, she did her homework. It was not uncommon for her to be up until after 2:00 a.m..

Dawn ended up with a 3.9 GPA and scored 2,110 on the SAT. She applied to four schools in her state: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, Davidson College, and Warren Wilson College. Then, she decided to reach for the stars. She sent in one last application to Harvard.

Dawn was accepted to the first four in-state schools she applied to, but heard nothing from Harvard for several months. Then, the letter from Harvard came. It was a small letter. A bad sign. A very bad sign. All her other acceptances came in a huge package with the acceptance material.

I guess Harvard likes to scare their incoming freshman because the letter congratulated Dawn for being accepted to the Harvard College Class of 2016, along with a full scholarship.

When interviewed on CNN, Dawn was asked, “What is your advice to other teens?”

She replied, “I have two pieces of advice to other students. The first one is – your situations don’t define you. You can take any classes you want and you can succeed. If you try hard, you can do anything. And I encourage people in poor situations to talk to someone at school… because the school system can help.”

She also advises other students to take advantage of all the opportunities they have.

Clearly, Dawn is correct. Situations do not define you. If Dawn can succeed, anyone can… Even if you got the wrong color iPod for Christmas.

Just about everyone wants to lose weight. Some want to lose a lot. Some just want to lose a little. No matter how much weight you want to lose, you probably would like to know who “The Weight Loss King” is and how this 32-year-old lost 111 pounds in 101 days. Here’s the story…

“The Weight Loss King” was seriously overweight at 333 lbs. His health was spiraling out of control and he sat himself down and decided he had to make a change. That change was going to be a 10-day juice fast.

By the third day, things looked bleak. Hunger and the detoxification process was waging war on him. But he kept his promise to himself and made it to the fourth day. That’s when things started to get a little better…

Each day he just tried to make it to the next. By the 8th day, he shot a video about his progress. He had lost 16 lbs., but he said something much more important happened than the amount of weight he had lost. He said that his initial goal was to make it 10 days. But now on the 8th day, he changed his goal. His new goal was to stay on the juice fast for another 10 days, and possibly 10 after that, for a total of 30 days.

This meant he was going to miss Thanksgiving, but by this time, he knew he was creating a whole new life for himself. He admitted he didn’t even think he was going to make it the initial 10 days. It’s amazing how things can change…

He made another video update on day 15, and reported that he was down 23 lbs. This time, he said he was going for 30 days and it was clear by the conviction in his voice that he was going to make it. In this video, his entire face was beginning to change and he was becoming a completely different person.

By day 22, he had lost 30 lbs. He said he had one week to go and he wanted to drop another 10 lbs. in his final week.

On day 30, you could see everything had changed. He was down 38 lbs. and he looked and talked like a new person. He said, “I’m on day 30 of a 10 day juice fast which means I’ve done better than I thought I could.” The most important thing was the self-confidence he now possessed, and the incredible positive momentum he was building.

He announced that he changed his goal once again and he planned to do a full 60 days on the juice fast. By day 33, he was down 41 lbs. He said that he was feeling the best he had ever felt in his life. The days went by and the weight continued to come off. Each video update was better than the previous one, until he reached his ultimate goal by dropping a whopping 111 pounds in 101 days.

So what do a juice fast and all this weight loss have to do with you? The weight loss actually has nothing to do with you, but there is something much more important here that does…

On his last video update, he said he thought reaching his juice fast goal would be the end, but when he got there, he realized it was just the beginning. The important thing here is that he did not attempt a 101 day juice fast. He only attempted 10 days. He committed himself to something small and believable and then he took action. He just tried to make it through each day, one day at a time. When he did, the momentum grew. That’s how big changes take place, one small step at a time.

No one is telling you or anyone else to do a juice fast. For this newsletter, the juice fast is merely symbolic of the process of change and how you can achieve major accomplishments in your life by making a commitment to a small, attainable goal and taking one small step at a time. The key is taking that first step.

Super Storm Sandy is said to be the largest hurricane on record at over 1,000 miles wide. The highest wind gusts (94 mph) were recorded in Eatons Neck, New York. 33 inches of snow piled up in Clayton, West Virginia. Waves were 39.67 feet 500 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey… 32.5 feet just outside New York Harbor entrance and 21.7 feet in lower Lake Michigan.

The devastation was unimaginable. Homes were destroyed, the power was out for an estimated 7.4 million people, and over 110 people were killed in the storm.

There was and still is plenty to curse about that storm, but there are also some amazing stories, stories that show the good in people and how we come together in a time of need.

Here is one of the most amazing stories from Super Storm Sandy…

As the story goes, Christine is a homeowner in Toms River, New Jersey. She evacuated her home before Sandy hit. When she returned to her home, she found a note. The note had evidently been left by someone who had broken into her home during the storm while he was trying to survive.

The person “stole” a blanket and jacket to try to keep from freezing to death. The person who broke into Christine’s house was a 28 year old New Jersey man named Mike. The note was basically Mike’s last words and request to contact his father and let him know he had died.

Here’s what the note said: “Whoever reads this I’m DIEING – I’m 28 yrs. old my name is Mike. I had to break into your house. I took blankets off the couch. I have hypothermia. I didn’t take anything. A wave thru me out of my house down the block. I don’t think I’m going to make it. The water outside is 10ft deep at least. There’s no res[c]ue. Tell my dad I love him and I tryed get[t]ing out. His number is ###-###-#### his name is Tony. I hope u can read this I’m in the dark. I took a black jacket too. Goodbye. God all mighty help me.”

A picture of the note spread like wildfire over Facebook and Twitter. Then, it was seen by radio talk show host, Justin Louis. Justin called the number in the note and someone answered.

The person who answered the phone was Tony. Justin told Tony about the note and Tony said that Mike is his son. Then, Tony asked if Justin wanted to talk to Mike.

Yes, Mike had survived! Justin interviewed Mike, and Mike told him how he had been swept out to sea for hours. His house was flooding and when he walked out the door, he was literally swept away into the bay.

Mike couldn’t make it back to his house because the current was too strong. He spent 5 hours battling the current and waves until ending up at Christine’s house where he grabbed some clothes and wrote the note. He was at Christine’s house for 2 hours before he was picked up by a man named Frank on a Waverunner. Frank rescued Mike and brought him to his house.

Now, Mike says he is afraid of the dark because of all that time he spent in the bay with 20 foot waves crashing over him, but that’s a lot better than the alternative.