Inspiration for the R.E.A.C.H for the Stars Program

Eight years ago, I was very comfortable working for as a computer programmer company in Tempe, Arizona. Life was good! I had found a dream job after completing my education with a company on the cutting edge. I was looking forward to advancing my career in computer programming and enjoy life to the fullest.

My fun world started crumbling in shortly after. First, one of my best friends and college roommate died in a road accident on his way to the Grand Canyon. On February 24, 1994, my Dad, my best friend, and motivator past away. He had battle throat cancer his entire adult life. The news of his death was very devastating. I lost hope and interest in almost everything I was doing until them. Even my computer programming job was not fun anymore!

I took three months off work to try and restore my life back to normal. During the sabbatical levy, I did absolutely nothing, living off my life savings. The three months turned into a year; still I have not found the motivation to go back to work. The following summer (1995), I attempted to get back to mainstream by working a basketball camp in Prescott, Arizona as a basketball coach/counselor. For the first time in almost two years, I found peace in my heart working with young men and women. The peaceful mind led me to start thinking about a new career as a motivational speaker. However, the thought was short life because I did not have a platform to base my motivation talk on.

The last day of camp, we watched a motivational tape by Tanya Crevier, the best female ball-handler in the world. Her tape was so inspiring, I decided to revisit my thought of becoming a motivational speaker. I was going to use ball-handling demonstration as a platform. The next day I started working on my ball-handling skills. Working up to six hours a day, I succeeded in developing the platform in just two years with a lot of help from dear friends.

I finally had found something that gave me peace in my heart; sharing my life experience examples with youths through basketball. To keep my dad's spirit a life, I included a program on the negative health effects of tobacco called KNowTobacco.. My dad smoked since he was a teenager, and his doctor said that his smoking habit had something to do with his illness (throat cancer).

Through my Dad's inspiration, R.E.A.C.H for the Stars program was born. This fun and entertaining program gives me a lot of fulfillment talking to and sharing my experiences with others through basketballs demonstration. Through the difficult times, I realize the following things:

• We must allow and give ourselves time to grieve when we are hurting.
• We must also take time to pray, ask for guidance, and direction when going through difficult times.
• We must have faith and believe that time can, and will heal all situations if we are patience.
• This world is not an island. There is somebody out there waiting and very willing to help if you have a problem. Take time to find him or her.

We have absolutely on control over the unfortunate things that happen to us. However, we can use the experiences to better ourselves tomorrow. Remember, even after a strong storm has touched down and destroy the whole village, we can still find something positive in the after mass. From a distance hilltop, the debris left behind looks beautiful in the glowing morning sun.

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