I still remember carefully the time of his death and the place where he uttered his last words to me. A lot of people feel like he did not deserve to die and I agree with them on that point. At least he left me with something to hold dearly to everyday. When I look back I just smile and say, “Thank you, my uncle. Today I’ve achieved a lot of things just because of the gift you gave me.”
I grew up as a young curious boy who always wanted to find out why things are done the way they are done. I wanted to create a meaningful life for myself but I did not have a perfect plan to execute that goal.
One day I saw my uncle holding a mirror under the tree at his house and out of curiosity I decided to ask him a question.
“Uncle, why are you looking yourself in the mirror?”
He responded gently, “I’ll tell you one day young boy.”
I visited him at his house one time and found his wife in the kitchen. I greeted her. I asked her the reason why her husband carried a mirror wherever he went and she responded, “I wish I knew the reason why he carries that mirror.”
They say “curiosity killed a cat” but I cared less about that!
One day I visited my uncle and I found him sitting under the same tree with his piece of mirror. I took a chair and sat next to him. I began the conversation again.
“Uncle, you live in a big house and you have a lot money and different models of cars. How did you achieve all this?”
He replied with tears falling over his cheeks. “My doctor said that I’ve got 5 days to live, I’ll tell you on the fifth day.”
On the fifth day I visited him at the hospital. He called me over to his bed and asked me if I still wanted to know the reason why he carried a mirror with him and I responded with tears falling over my cheeks.
“Yes, Uncle,”
“I used this mirror to motivate the person I see in it because I figured out that nobody can motivate me more than myself.”
I was perplexed and I couldn’t understand why he used that mirror as an inspiration. I then asked him again.
“How so, Uncle?”
And he replied, “I used to look myself in that mirror and question myself whenever I lost focus on my goal. I used to say this to myself: despite the trials of life, just stay focused on your dream.”
He concluded, “All these achievements you see today were made possible by this piece of mirror,”
He gave me the mirror.
“Carry this mirror wherever you go and use it to motivate the person you see in it. Go after your dream,”
Today I’m a writer, a motivational speaker and a football player, all because of the mirror my uncle gave to me.