So I discovered that he wrote a book – The Game of My Life – with Daniel Paisner, who did a masterful job as credited ‘ghost’ writer by staying out of the way and letting J-Mac tell his story the way he wanted to. The result is like sitting across the table from Jason and listening to him tell his story. The result is an honest, unfiltered, humble, inspiring story of this young man’s remarkable life.
If you don’t know his story, take about 10 minutes now, watch both of these videos, and you’ll get a flavor of how amazing it is. They are worth every second of your time. I still can’t watch them without tears and wanting to pump my fist repeatedly in the air in celebration.
Part I:
Part II:
And now about his book. Jason fills out the breadth and depth of his experiences only hinted at in the videos. The challenges he has faced throughout his life are far more numerous and significant than alluded to on TV.
His story adds many important details to The Game, but as the title says simply and beautifully, the book is about the game of his entire life and how he has played it and devoted himself to it. As thrilling a moment and a memory as it must be for him, there’s not a single hint of self-aggrandizement in his book. He appreciates and savors everything that has come to him as a result, but isn’t the least bit caught up in the kinds of things that fame often brings about in people.
College basketball lost one of its greatest legends this morning. Kay Yow, coach of my alma mater’s – North Carolina State – women’s basketball team, died this morning after battling breast cancer for over 20 years.
She taught not just people with cancer but all of us how to live with determination, perseverance, hope, and love of life regardless of the obstacles no matter how difficult they might be. She coached while undergoing chemo; she coached despite being so weak that her assistant coach had to help her stand up during games, and she did so without complaint. No matter what happened to her, she continued to teach and inspire and help others find the strength to battle cancer or to battle any challenge in their lives.
You’ve probably seen these rather perplexing “What’s G?” commercials on TV. After seeing them several times, I still didn’t know what the heck ‘G’ was. So, I went and did exactly what they were hoping I’d be suckered into doing – I looked it up online. (BTW – it’s Gatorade, though I have no idea what the ‘G’ thing is getting at branding-wise.)
The only reason I bothered researching this was because of who appeared in one of the commercials. Here’s the video. Watch at about 25 seconds in. Know who that is making the basketball shooting motion?
I used a lot of climbing imagery in my “What if he never talks?” post a few days ago. For me it captures the often difficult and slow – but steady – progress we make as we try to climb upward that little bit at a time.
And this young man goes out and shows us how climbing is done right.
A 12-year-old boy with special educational needs is believed to be the youngest person ever to trek to the base camp of the highest mountain in the world.
Winton School student Joshua Wilson’s achievement in reaching the Everest landmark is all the more remarkable because he suffers from the learning disability, autism.
How great is that! But it gets even better. In the words of his mother,
Josh had a breakdown four years ago and wouldn’t leave the house. He’s quite shy and his autism tends to be quite debilitating for him.
[...]
He has come back from his trip a different boy. He has a lot more self-confidence and was able to give a presentation on Everest at school. I’m so proud of him.
“Swifter, Higher, Stronger” is the Olympic motto. It is natural, even if somewhat misguided, to take that to mean that those who go farther or faster than anyone else are our greatest heroes. While Michael Phelps is just freakish in his athletic ability and I would celebrate him getting eight gold medals if that happens, after I would move on. No offense, Michael. Though I probably will go bat crazy if Dara Torres wins gold.
There are some people who have to stare down the most daunting of choices about whether to try to overcome impossible odds or to accept something less. They aren’t the best at what they do, but they represent the best of who we are as human beings. Either for one moment or over an entire lifetime, they do something that inspires us. Through their example, we learn about hope and commitment.
Because of their choices and their determination, there are many athletes who have touched something fundamental in our souls. I could name many more than the ones I mention below, but here are some that really stick out to me.
Another epic meltdown. No idea why, but definitely not the toothpaste this time. Tried everything we could think of. Ugh.about 15 hours agofrom Tweetie
...so I teased Z about her Google status. She changed it to the first 20 digits of Pi. /via @shannonrosa <- Fractally awesome. I love pi.about 1 day agofrom Tweetie
Regardless of how ridiculous it actually is, I still seem to think it's possible to rationalize with the kids.about 3 days agofrom Tweetie
Dreading Daylight Savings Times. Guy who invented didn't have child with #autism /via @mamabegood <-Spring fwd seems easier. Fall back=fail.about 3 days agofrom Tweetie
