Jun
24
I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to very poor parents who struggled to put food on the table. My mother was ambitious and dreamed of going to America and bringing the family there. When I was 14 years old, my mother fulfilled her dream. She was sponsored by a very kind lady who took her to America to work for her. Mom worked hard, and in the course of several years, she brought most of the family to America.
I came to America with my brother, Nick, in 1969, just a few months before my 21st birthday. I remembered that plane ride very well, as it was the first time I had ever flown. It was dark as the plane began its descent to Kennedy airport, and as I looked over the sea of lights, I was awed by the beauty and bursting with excitement.
America: I had heard so much about her. I was told the streets were paved with gold and money grew on trees. I heard people even gave money away through a strange custom called tipping, with which I was not familiar. My plan was to work as a hotel bellboy and be the recipient of those generous tips. America had been described to me as the land of opportunity, where even a high-school dropout like me could get a job and make more money than most of the educated folks back in Jamaica. I could not wait to pick up some easy money and walk on golden streets. But reality set in on me quickly. I discovered there were no money trees, no golden streets, and no bellboy jobs available where I was living. Here I was, in America, the Promised Land, but I could not cash in on the opportunities because I had very little education, no job experience, no car, and no credit.
Eventually I found a job at a local supermarket stocking shelves and gathering shopping carts from the parking lot. I earned about $80.00 per week, which was good money to me. I had arrived! I was content and comfortable, until one day something happened to upset the whole applecart. One morning I got up with my usual cheerfulness, walked to work, and began stocking shelves. As I looked down the aisle I saw a lady walking toward me. It turned out I knew this lady . . . she was my mother!
Mother walked right up to me and I was about to greet her, but on her face was the sternest look I had ever seen on man or animal. She looked at me with such intensity I could feel her eyes penetrating my soul. She didn't say a word but her eyes spoke volumes. This was what I heard, My son, I came to this country and worked like a slave so you could make something of your life. But look at you; you have no ambition or desire. You are content stocking shelves for the rest of your life. Is this it? Is this all you want? What a waste! I expected great things of you and I'm very disappointed. What are you going to do with your life?
Mothers stare may have lasted only a few seconds but it felt like an eternity. I was disarmed and defenseless, and I went home that night a beaten young man. She had just given me the worst beating I'd ever had"not with a belt, but with her eyes. There was nothing wrong with me working in a supermarket, except that I was about to make a career out of stocking shelves. Mom knew I had the ability to do a lot more with my life!
That night I was very troubled in my spirit. I knew I had to do something, but I didnt know what to do. I loved my mom, and the look of disappointment on her face was breaking my heart. Suddenly I had the strangest idea to do something I had never done before. I got a sheet of paper, found a pen, and began to design the life I really wanted. Some of my desires were a high school equivalency diploma, drivers license, car, high-paying professional job, wife, income-producing house, and college degree. After I completed my list, I immediately took action and began working toward the goals I'd written. There was never a doubt in my mind that I would accomplish everything.
I enrolled in night classes in an adult education program and got my GED. My mom taught me how to drive in America. I had learned to drive in Jamaica but found out Americans drive on the wrong side of the road. I was scared and intimidated by the big highways and the volume of traffic and how fast everyone drove, but I soon mastered the beast and got my drivers license. I saved enough money from my supermarket job to buy my first car.
One day I received a piece of mail promoting a 6-month course in COBOL from the Institute of Computer Technology. How in the world I got on their mailing list so quickly I do not know. I wanted a professional job, and a computer programmer was indeed a high-paying professional job. I was able to borrow the money and complete the course. Within a few years I was working as a computer programmer for a major pharmaceutical company. I met a wonderful woman, got married, had a family, and bought our first income-producing three-family home. It wasnt long before I completed my BA degree, Summa Cum Laude.
That one look from my mother helped me discover the incredible power of goal-setting to give direction to my life. Goal-setting became a life-long practice for me. With belief in goal attainment, backed by persistent action, I have continued to live my dream. I bought and sold other income-producing properties and eventually bought my dream house. I continued my education and earned an Executive MBA degree. Goals helped me overcome the loss of loved ones, financial reversals, and self-destructive habits. They've helped me chart a new course in life filled with faith, hope, and positive expectation, even after experiencing the death of my wife from cancer and the loss of my daughter in the World Trade Center terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
By the divine hand of God, the help of a wonderful mother, and the support of my first wife, Margaret, and current wife, Gwen, I discovered the goal-setting strategies that released the potential within me. I also discovered that success is not an accident and that there are specific things you must learn and apply in order to wake up the giant within. I have found my passion in life and that is to help others unlock their God-given potential and live life to the fullest. My passion today is to develop a world-wide ministry dedicated to helping others grow and achieve total freedom and optimum health in spirit, soul, and body.
*** This article was republished with permission from the best-selling Wake Up…Live the Life You Love book series. To hear more information on this book and the book series, go to http://wakeupteleclass.com/.
Author's Bio
Darling, Earl D.
Earl Darling is Pastor of Yorktown Vineyard Community Church in Yorktown Heights, New York. He is founder of the Sharp Solution Seminar, dedicated to setting people free from addictions. Earl believes in ministering to the total person – spirit, soul and body. Learn more about the Sharp Solution Seminar, and the products Earl recommends at his web site: www.awmsolutions.org
Address: 5 Cobblestone Lane, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567
Phone: 914-930-7122
E-mail: earldarling@awmsolutions.org
Website: www.awmsolutions.org
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