Only The Brave Triumph by Africa Publishing Company

People want to succeed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there is nothing wrong with that. The problem today is that too often, the end justifies any means.

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However, history shows that real success is achieved not by taking shortcuts but through determination, perseverance and courage. There is a need for the younger generation to know that only the brave triumph â&#x20AC;&#x201C; those who dare to say no to corruption, no to mediocrity, no to laziness and lies, and an emphatic no to the self-indulgent culture that so many young people admire. The author proposes a fresh look at the values of yesteryear by introducing us to insights he has gleaned from the lives of ten heroes and heroines of our time. These brave people include leaders of integrity and resolve, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Aung San Suu Kyi; and successful athletes Wilma Rudolph and Oscar Pistorius, who overcame the challenges of illness and disability through sheer determination and courage. This book is a must-read for youth, parents, and educators.

ONLY THE BRAVE TRIUMPH A life of courage and determination Miguel ﾃ］gel Nﾃｺﾃｱez

ONLY THE BRAVE TRIUMPH

Miguel ﾃ］gel Nﾃｺﾃｱez

ONLY THE BRAVE TRIUMPH Original edition title: Sólo los Valientes Triunfan Copyright © Miguel Ángel Núñez, 2008 English edition: Only the Brave Triumph Copyright © Africa Publishing Company, 2010 Africa Publishing Company PO Box 111 Somerset Mall 7137, Western Cape, South Africa Tel: +27218527656 Cell: +27848144888 Fax: +27218519992 Email: info@africacopublishing.com First English Edition September 2010

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Full or partial reproduction by any form or by any means whatsoever is prohibited. The violation of copyrights is a crime established by the Criminal Code. Unless otherwise marked, scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. ISBN: 978-0-9869799-3-4 Publisher: Marcos Cruz Assistant Publisher: Jeremi Sterley Editor: Cindy Hurlow Translator: Catherine Scott Designers: Shawn Lochner Design Guru Edwin De la Cruz Published in South Africa

‘Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance’ Samuel Johnson ‘No road is too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; and no honours are too distant for the man who prepares himself for them with patience’ Jean de la Bruyère ‘There is no tree that the wind has not shaken’ Hindu proverb ‘In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests on perseverance’ Goethe ‘Genius is perseverance in disguise’ Mike Newlin ‘We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world’ Helen Keller

Contents Introduction..........................................................................11 1. The value of setting goals.................................................15 2. Again and again...............................................................23 3. The courage to try.............................................................33 4. The fight for justice.............................................................41 5. Where there’s a will, there’s a way................................51 6. Values that endure............................................................59 7. True success.........................................................................67 8. Dreams are race- and gender-blind..............................75 9. The power of conviction....................................................85 10. God’s plan for you.............................................................95 Conclusion........................................................................105 Activities for further learning..............................................109

Introduction

hen was the last time you paused to gaze up at a starry night sky and sensed how each star seemed to be inviting you to dream? Humans have been dreaming under this breath-taking sight since the beginning of time. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, many of these dreams didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t simply disappear into the night; they were developed and expanded until finally, through the shared efforts of many individuals, they were brought to life fulfilling the ambition of the dreamer. Someone, somewhere, inspired the beginnings of air travel; another designer inspired the invention of spacecrafts that eventually made space travel possible. Every successful venture begins with a dream. Why should you dream small? Why not dream big? No one has ever succeeded without first having a goal, an objective, or a dream and then putting in the hard work necessary to achieve it. Nothing is more rewarding than looking back at where one started and knowing that it has all been worthwhile. The tears and suffering that formed part of the journey are forgotten when one marvels at the glorious outcome of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life mission. Sometimes those who have been hurt in life might tell you that, no matter what you do, your dreams will never come true because they are impossible.

Only the Brave Triumph

These birds of ill omen should be ignored. They speak from behind open wounds, so do not be misguided by their discouraging words. You are the architect of your own destiny; not even God can take you along a path that you have not planned. Nobody is going to compel you to dream; this work is for you alone. This book is not only about dreams, ambition, and effort. It also tackles the fact that many try to ignore their dreams for fear of failure. However, it is only the brave who triumph in the end. Being brave does not mean that you are never scared; it simply means going forth in spite of your fears, knowing that there is a reward at the end for those who work diligently and persevere despite the hardships along the way. You may not be familiar with the name â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sergei Korolyovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. He was unknown in the West for many years due to Communist repression. However, thanks to his dreams and visionary work, the first spacecraft was invented and eventually it became possible for Yuri Gagarin to be the first man to orbit the earth in 1961. In 1996, the city of Kalinigrad on the outskirts of Moscow was renamed Korolyov in his memory. Korolyovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience illustrates that ultimately only those who are bold enough to overcome the obstacles in their way to reach their goals are remembered. Who remembers those who are always predicting defeat? When the successful are receiving their reward, who remembers those that ridiculed them for dreaming of the impossible? The difference between a person who fails and one who succeeds is that the first believes the inevitable words of discouragement that come their way and the other pushes on despite the pessimists. Do you want to be just one of the crowd, going through life simply existing? The choice is yours; there are already many who have chosen this way of life. However, if you want to be

Introduction

able to look back on your life with the satisfaction of knowing that you undertook to follow your dreams and goals, you must equip yourself with courage and be willing to pay the price of hard work that every good dream deserves. I hope that this book will inspire you to dream and to see the world through new eyes, and that one day you will enjoy the privilege of standing alongside those who can say ‘I did it; I fulfilled my life’s purpose!’ I would like to express my appreciation to my wife for her enthusiasm for this project and the ideas that she contributed to the creation of it. Also to those who contributed and supported in whatever way they could in my attempts to share the stories of these individuals. Thank you so much to those who encouraged me to continue writing; I am indebted to you all.

Miguel Ángel Núnez

Only the Brave Triumph

1 The value of setting goals

‘Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools’ (Napoleon Bonaparte)

f you ever go to the United States, to New York in particular, you will see an extraordinary bridge that joins the area of Brooklyn to Manhattan. Completed in 1883, the bridge cost sixteen million dollars to construct. In its time, it was the largest suspension construction in the world, extending over 1.6 kilometres. The two huge towers that support four steel cables, each weighing 750 tons, were the tallest constructions in New York when built. Twenty people died during the construction of this remarkable structure, the Brooklyn Bridge. How was it possible to implement a work of such magnitude at a time when so little technical support existed? To give you an idea of the ingenuity and resourcefulness that was necessary to accomplish this feat, let me describe how the towers were erected in the middle of the East River. A clever mechanism was devised consisting of two enormous iron and wooden square containers called ‘caissons’. These were open on one side and were slid into the water with the open side facing down toward the riverbed. Air was pumped into the containers to prevent water from entering. Workmen then climbed in to shovel out any sand that entered

Only the Brave Triumph

the chambers so that eventually the bridge’s foundations could be built on solid bedrock. Eventually two enormous towers were built on top of these giant ‘boxes’. The labourers inside the caissons worked by the light of torches and candles, extracting sand and using dynamite to remove rocks to make space for the towers. A system of pulleys was used to lift the men to the surface. However, as the square containers slowly sank into the river bed, the labourers began to feel the symptoms of decompression sickness, an illness well known to scuba-divers. This illness is caused by nitrogen bubbles forming in the blood as the result of a too-rapid decompression on the journey up out of the caisson. Terrible pain is experienced, and paralysis sometimes results. In the case of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, decompression sickness was the cause of three deaths. The problem was that at the time very little was known about how to treat this illness, so that when someone fell ill there was very little that could be done. When the towers were finally erected, the square containers were filled with cement, making way for the subsequent construction of the bridge. The process of attaching cables was tedious and difficult. First the cable was attached and then steadily pieces of steel wire were wound around the original cable; each cable finally consisting of 5000 wire fibres. Finally, the covering of the bridge was laid in sections. The entire project took 13 years to complete. Six hundred people worked on the project, most of whom were poor immigrants from all over the globe who were paid minimal wages due to limited resources. The dreamer Nothing is ever built without being born of someone’s dreams, and there is always someone ambitious enough to

The value of setting goals

turn the dream into reality. John Roebling, a German-born civil engineer, dreamt of building bridges and designed the plans for the Brooklyn Bridge in 1855. When he presented the project to the authorities, it was received with enthusiasm but was put on hold due to the high costs involved in such an investment. However, some experts in the field criticized Roebling’s design, calling it ‘crazy’ and ‘impossible’. The idea for the Brooklyn Bridge came to Roebling while crossing the East River on a barge. The trip took so much time that he became impatient and decided that there had to be another way to get across. In those days it was very complicated to cross the river and in winter the situation became unbearable, with wet conditions making it difficult to land. Roebling felt that there had to be a solution. In 1867 approval was given for the project but construction only began in 1870. This means it took over 12 long years of struggle to find the funds and support for Roebling’s dream. Anyone else would have given up long before and gone in search of another dream with more enthusiastic supporters. However, Roebling possessed experience as an engineer from three bridges he had previously designed and built, this gave him the confidence to believe in his new design. Also, in 1841 he had invented a system of twisted cables used for suspension bridges which earned him esteem as an engineer. Two months after the project was launched, while Roebling was searching for the ideal location for the towers, a tragic accident took place. His foot was crushed by an arriving ferry with the result that his toes had to be amputated. Eventually he succumbed to a tetanus infection, never experiencing the joy of seeing his dream turned into reality. Once again doubtful critics came in, calling his idea impossible and crazy, calling for it to be abandoned and claiming that the sacrifice was not worth it.

Only the Brave Triumph

At that moment the project could easily have been abandoned. But Roebling’s son, also an engineer, interceded. This was Washington Roebling, a man who had been working alongside his father since the inception of the project. Together they had dreamed up imaginative ways of carrying out the project and had worked side by side to overcome the technical challenges of this mammoth task. The engineer Unfortunately, not long after taking charge of the bridge, Washington too fell ill with decompression sickness. One fateful day he was trapped below the water in one of the caissons during a fire; when he got out he suffered from ‘the bends’ (as decompression sickness is also known) and was paralyzed. He was confined to his apartment for ten years, never returning to the construction site. If you consider that the bridge took 13 years to complete, you will understand the magnitude of his efforts and commitment. He could have given up and handed over the task of managing the construction of the bridge to someone else. Or he could have fallen into a state of self-pity and lived out the rest of his days bitter that he never had the chance to reach his dream. Instead, he arranged that a townhouse be constructed near to the bridge and from there, with the aid of binoculars, he supervised the construction for ten years. His wife, Emily, took upon herself the responsibility of passing on his instructions to the workers and bringing back questions from the construction site. The investors continued to support the construction. They were encouraged by Roebling’s extraordinary enthusiasm for the project despite his condition. He was also still the best person to direct the project because, although he was physically a changed man, the design and its details were still perfectly formulated in his mind.

The value of setting goals

The faithful wife They say that behind every great man there is a great woman, and such was the case with Washington Roebling. His wife, Emily Warren Roebling, sacrificed ten years of her life to work alongside her husband and co-direct the construction of the bridge in an era in which it was highly unusual for a woman to be involved in such work. She could have stayed at home, lamenting her husbandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s condition and inability to complete the project. She could have responded like so many others, bitterly brooding over their bad luck and blaming fate for what had happened. However, Emily chose not to become demoralized; instead, she decided against all logic to complete the dream that caused the death of her fatherin-law and disabled her husband. For the next fourteen years, Emilyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dedication in aiding her husband in the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge was unyielding. She mastered an understanding of advanced mathematics, civil engineering concepts and mechanical laws in order to relay her husbandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s instructions to the workers. Emily is the heroine of this story and her name deserves to be memorialized alongside that of her husband and father-inlaw. On the day of inauguration there were 14000 people in attendance, including the president of the United States, all marvelling at the completion of one of the grandest constructions of its time. Emily Warren Roebling was roundly praised at the opening ceremony, and her name was included on the commemorative plaque honouring those who achieved this amazing feat. The lesson of anonymity Unfortunately, these days it seems as though people are more concerned with temporary glory, all too often applauding those who have not truly earned their fame and forgetting those who have. Subsequently, many people are

Only the Brave Triumph

influenced to turn away from life goals that do not involve some form of instant recognition. To make matters worse, the media very seldom offers admirable role models. Today we make heroes out of those who have contributed little else to humanity other than scoring a few goals, or acting in the latest block-buster movies, for example. That’s why the whole world remembers the football champion, known as the best football player in the world of his time, who enjoyed fame and riches earned from his talent but in his personal life was an anti-example in many ways. A drug addict, womanizer, trouble-maker, with an attitude towards life that was a bad example for the youth, yet he was idolized by thousands. Another example is that of ‘The King of Pop’ who has become an icon of our age. However, in my opinion, he is an example of extreme emotional immaturity. He had multiple plastic surgeries to transform his appearance and lighten his complexion, converting himself into an oddity. He went from marriage to marriage and was in court on various occasions for suspicion of involvement with the sexual abuse of boys. Regardless, he continues to be idolized by many of the youth today. The world is indeed upside down. There needs to be something more long-lasting. Although Washington Roebling is remembered by students of architectural history, his name is not well known in mainstream society. The lesson of anonymity is that if you do something extraordinary and praiseworthy, you won’t necessarily be remembered and glorified by the masses; however, you will know in your core that what you have done is honourable and no one will be able to take that feeling away from you. The truly successful don’t go in search of fame but aim to leave behind a legacy regardless of the publicity that they might receive.

The value of setting goals

The lesson in living a dream When I think of Washington Roebling confined to bed at the age of 31, watching from his bedroom window the advances of the construction that he had dedicated his life to, I sometimes imagine him crying with frustration. In the ten years that he directed the construction from his sickbed, he must have had moments of feeling so powerless for not being able to go physically to the site. Nonetheless, he never gave up but pressed on because dreams give one the energy it takes to advance. While others lose sight of their goals, or get lost in bitterness, true dreamers press on despite the difficulties. Although Roebling possessed only the experience of building wooden bridges during the Civil War, he had inherited a dream from his father, made it his own and adopted an attitude of resolve in the face of challenges. Perseverance A dream cannot be achieved by blaming one’s circumstances for setbacks. Those that reach their dream do it by the power of perseverance. It is not always the most intelligent nor the most energetic who succeed, but those who are prepared to apply themselves bit by bit, day in and day out. It is those who keep moving forward despite the immense effort it takes even when the goal seems far away. Of course there will be moments of discouragement, the temptation to give up, but all true dreamers eventually pick themselves up and persevere. Giving it your all The Bible says, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might’ (Eccl. 9:10). In other words, don’t do anything half-heartedly, do everything to the best of your ability. Are you committed to giving it all you’ve got? Are you putting in a hundred per cent of what you’re capable of? All Roebling

Only the Brave Triumph

could do was lie in his bed, observing the work from a distance and communicating instructions to his loyal wife, but it was enough for this extraordinary bridge to be completed. We are the architects of our own destiny. What we achieve is what we resolve to do. When the dream is big enough, there will always be someone who will be a source of encouragement and support to you. Even though you will encounter difficult situations, if you persist, you will prevail. Only those who give it their all, who put in a hundred per cent effort, make it to their destination. Therefore, I leave you with a choice: either you persevere and focus on making your dream a reality, or you stay where you are and watch others advance. It’s up to you.

Questions for reflection 1. What is the biggest lesson to be learnt from the life of Washington Roebling? 2. If you were in Washington Roebling’s place, what would you have done? 3. What do you admire about the life of Emily Warren Roebling? 4. If you were asked, ‘What is the biggest dream of your life?’ how would you answer? 5. What are you doing in order to achieve your dream? 6. What happens when we have a dream and we don’t put all we have into achieving it? 7. Why is it so important to have a clear goal? 8. What do you want people to remember about you when you are gone?

People want to succeed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there is nothing wrong with that. The problem today is that too often, the end justifies any means.

GREAT

READING FOR THE YOUTH