Griffin Speaks
HANG IN THERE
Young
people often seek my advice on success. I often give it to them. Hang
in there! Don’t give up
just because you hit a bump in the road.
Many
of my white friends tell me that I am the happiest Black man they have ever
known. I recall soon after moving to Boston, Massachusetts I was visiting a
friend at Harvard when I was asked by a Harvard Law student, “Greg, How
did you overcome your feelings of inferiority?” You know having grown up
in the South and all. I politely looked at her as though she had lost her
mind. I responded, “I have never for one second in my life felt inferior
to anyone.” In fact, you
should meet my dad, Dr. Melvin J. Griffin Sr. Several months later
that student had the opportunity to meet my dad when I threw a reception for
my parents when they visited me at Boston University School of Law. The
reception included one of the Law School’s Deans as a guest. She told me
after meeting my dad that she now knew where I got my confidence and ability
to hang in there without feeling inferior to anyone. My dad told almost
everyone he met that night, “ Don’t get a law degree with
scared written behind it!” “When you go to court speak up and talk loud,
don’t talk like a mouse!” “You’ve got to hang in there! “Be a
David and kick some butt!”
Most
of what I have accomplished in life is the result of hanging in there! A
successful marriage, a beautiful family, a wonderful job, terrific friends,
and more money than I could ever spend because of my frugality. I am like
James Brown, I feel good and would love to claim that I have impeccable
health, but I don’t really know because I haven’t had a physical in 31
years. I went to see Dr. McDowell in Raleigh, North Carolina just before I
left home to attend my alma mater Morehouse College. I also haven’t had a
headache in 31 years. I will soon be 48 years old. Perhaps my lack of worry
and ability to hang in there has sustained me.
So
often a bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make
the turn. I think Winston Churchill said it best when he said: “Never give
in… never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never
give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force
…never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy!
My
advice to you no matter what you are dealing with in your life today is to
just hang in there! You will succeed!
In the words of my dad, “If you don’t have money at least have class!”
Greg
Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by
visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com
