A Good Reason to Look Up

When I was in junior high school, what my friends thought of me was real important to me.  During those years I grew much taller than most of my peers.  Being so tall made me feel uncomfortable.  In order to keep the focus off me and my unusual height, I went along with the crowd who would play practical jokes on other kids at school.  Being one of the class clowns gave me a way to make sure that the jokes were directed at others, and not at me.

I would pull all kinds of pranks that were hurtful, and sometimes even harmful, to others.  Once before gym class, my friends and I put Icy Hot in the gym shorts of one of the kids on the basketball team. Not only was he terribly embarrassed, but he also had to go to the school nurse's office.  I thought it was going to be funny, but it all ended up that no one thought it was - least of all my father.

My parents didn't always think that my behavior was funny.  They reminded me about The Golden Rule:  to treat others as I would like to be treated.  Many times, I was disciplined for the hurtful way that I was treating others.  What I was doing was hurting other kids, and in turn hurting my reputation as someone to be looked up to. My friends were looking up to me because I was tall, but what did they see?

My parents wanted me to be a leader who was a good example to others - to be a decent human being.  They taught me to set my own goals, and to do the best at everything that I set out to do.  During the lectures I got from my father, he told me over and over again to be the leader that I was meant to be - to be a big man in my heart and actions, as well as in my body.  I had to question myself whether or not it was important to be the kind of leader and person my father believed I was inside.  I knew in my heart that he was right.  So I tried my best to follow my father's advice.

Once I focused on being the best that I could be at basketball and became a leader in the game, I took my responsibility to set a good example more seriously. I sometimes have to stop and think before I act, and I make mistakes occasionally - everyone is human.  But I continue to look for opportunities where I can make a difference, and to set a good example because of my father's advice. I now pass it on to you.

"Be a leader, Shaq, not a follower.  Since people already have to look up to you, give them a 'good' reason to do so."

by Shaquille O'Neal
from Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul
Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen,
Patty Hansen and Irene Dunlap