What's Your Excuse?

By
David Bradshaw

AT A PUBLIC speaking seminar in Anaheim, California, a few years ago, I was sitting beside a motivational speaker called Rene Godefroy for one of the sessions.

Rene gave me a copy of his book, No Condition is Permanent, about how he rose from a life of poverty and near starvation in a remote village in Haiti to become a prominent speaker and writer

If you want to succeed, you often have to fight for it, but how many of us would cope with the challenges that Rene faced—and triumphantly overcame?

It’s an inspiring story. It brings home the fact that being disadvantaged is no reason for not achieving whatever it is you want from life.

As the book blurb explains, “Rene was an impoverished child tormented by extended illness. 

Abandoned by his father and left behind while his mother sought work in the city, he survived primarily on breadfruit and the occasional rare fish he caught with a string and hook . . .”

Alone

To quote Rene’s own words: “I wanted to give up many times because my body was so weak, but my spirit refused to do so. It wanted me to stay in the ring and fight one more battle. I spent most of my time during the day sitting on a dirt floor fanning flies off my face; and at night, I shooed away the mosquitos. I was so alone.”