This is not the type of motivational video that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy. This is real talk about not beating yourself down and not letting your past infect your future. Motivational speaker Derek Clark shares some inspiring speech on how to never give up and the power of pushing forward. Below are the words transcribed from Derek’s video.
“Life is hard hitting, dangerous and unpredictable. There’s going to come a time in your life when you are going to face some serious difficulties, some pain, some adversity… but how you handle yourself in those situations will determine how much success you’ll have in life. It’s a choice…to never give up… to push forward… to not let any other persons opinion matter…to bounce back when you’ve been beat down. They say your best days are ahead of but the truth is that you are going to have to fight for some of those days. Life is not fair. It’s a battle of your mind, it’s a battle of your heart, it’s a battle of your will, it’s a battle for your inner soul. You have to fight for your life.
I came from nothing in this life…from a dad who tried to kill me, to a step dad and a mom that abandoned me, abused me, abandoned me at a psychiatric facility and from there I was transferred into the foster care system for 13 years and they never came back for me. They never visited me and they never called me. Man, I lost everything in my life at age 5…everything! I lost my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, my friends, my bedroom, my toys, my self respect, my self value, my ability to trust, my ability to love, my dignity and my identity. I lost everything! But over the years, I learned how to turn nothing into something…so don’t tell me that you can’t be something in life…don’t tell me that you don’t have enough energy to keep pushing…You’ve got to keep pushing, your life depends on it.
You’ve got to keep pushing…so I’m here to tell you do not let your negative past infect your future. Don’t let another person’s mistake or their weaknesses, or your mistakes or your weaknesses destroy your greatness. Everyone is born with greatness. We’ve all got something to give to this world. Let me tell you…greatness is contagious, hope is contagious! So helping one person every day, hope is contagious. If you want to get out of your pity, you’ve got to go help somebody. You need to take responsibility for the direction of your life. This is your life. You’ve got to own it.
This is your life but you’ve got to keep pushing. You’ve got to push through the bitterness, push through the heartache, push through the anxiety, push through the fear, push through the discomfort, push through the sadness. You’ve got to keep pushing because on the other side of that pain is something greater for you…some big purpose is waiting for you. Man, we’ve got turn on the brain, we’ve got to activate the confidence game, it’s time to reclaim so that you can say…this is how I overcame. So, I’ll tell you…let go..you’ve done your time…you’ve paid life’s tuition…it’s time for you to let go and push through this pain.”
