Giuliana and Natalia, I don’t know if you’ll ever read this.
The look on your faces last night will be etched in my memory for eternity.
When I returned home last summer after completing 29029, I spent quite some time reflecting.
(For those of you new to the newsletter, here’s an earlier post explaining that)
Tomorrow Me Loves Today’s Pain
Knowing I had several speeches in the coming months, I prepared to answer the question:
“Hey Tommy, knowing everything you went through during your event, what allowed you to finish despite the difficulty and adversity?”
Within a couple of hours, I came up with eight takeaways.
I then thought to myself…hmm, that would be kind of cool if the first letter of the takeaways spelled a word.
Unfortunately, it was a jumbled mess.
Then I started playing Tetris with the words. Put this letter here. Move that letter there.
And then it hit me…no way. It spells MOUNTAIN.
With two young girls at home, I wanted to come up with a way to share my takeaways that would resonate with them.
As of Wednesday morning, that message is now a published children’s book on Amazon.
I’ve spent the last year pouring over every detail. Down to the price: $13.86.
13 = Number of summits on the mountain
86 = My personal standard. The jersey # I had when I was invited to tryout as a referee in the NBA.
Even though the girls had known about the book for a few weeks, the pure joy and excitement they experienced last night when holding the book for the first time was something out of a movie.
By the way, the book is about them. Starring them.
Overcoming Any MOUNTAIN is about two brave sisters who dare to conquer the impossible – climbing the towering mountain they can see from their backyard.
The two sisters embark on an unforgettable journey that teaches them life lessons that will last long after they summit the mountain.
Unfortunately, I’m unable to post a link to the book in this newsletter.
If you want to check it out, you can head over to Amazon and search for: Overcoming Any MOUNTAIN
(front + back cover below)