The Summer Olympics will be upon us soon...these events are full of success and gold-medal stories, but many of the sagas did not begin with a victory...here are some inspirational stories about a variety of "winners" and their tenacity and commitment to achieve excellence:

Paul Hamm was a gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics in gymnastics, but not before slipping during a vault landing, crashing into the judges' table and dislocating his jaw...after falling to 12th place, he decided to go and give the best performance of his life, and was determined not to hold anything back.

Henry Ford failed 5 times at starting a business and then on the next try, was successful. Beethoven's teacher called him "hopeless" as a composer. Colonel Sanders offered his recipe to over 1,000 vendors before he found a buyer (you know, those famous 11 herbs and spices!), Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for "lack of ideas", Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4 years old...his teacher descibed him as "mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams", the Star Wars movie was rejected by many Hollywood movie studios initially, General Douglas MacArthur was turned down when he applied at West Point, Babe Ruth holds the record for strikeouts, in 1954 a manager at the Grand Ole Opry fired Elvis Presley after one performance, the classic Gone With the Wind was turned down by more than twenty-five publishers, Heisman trophy winner Herschel Walker was told he was too small to play football...and the stories can go on and on.

In the heathcare setting, the demand is high, the expectations are even higher, and perfection is anticipated by all who come to us for services. There are times when we "slip on the landing"...don't get discouraged, be determined to train more diligently and acquire knowledge and experience, and "Never Give Up"!