A young girl at Christmas was playing a trivia game on her smartphone.

“Which person was the first female to win 3 gold medals at a summer Olympics?”

Everyone else guessed wrong.

“Wilma Rudolph!” I shouted out correctly.

I know this because I’ve read about Wilma Ruldoph’s life. She was born 4 pounds and sickly. They thought she would never live. Throughout her life, she had a crooked leg and wore a brace. Wilma was only 20 or 21 when she won the 3 gold medals for running track in the 1960 Olympics. Not only was she the first woman to do this, she was African American.

This story impresses me to no end. I tried to tell this story to the others on Christmas and no one responded. They were off trying to answer the next trivia question.

My all-time favorite quotation comes from Wilma Ruldoph:
“The triumph can’t be had without the struggle.”

I covet no easy win. It’s the hardest-won victory that I cherish. And it’s true the triumph can’t be had without the struggle.

I urge readers to be uplifted and inspired by Wilma’s story. Try to do the impossible. “Do the thing you think you cannot do” as Eleanor Roosevelt commands too.

Send the haters packing. It’s your life to live as you choose.

Do the impossible. Then pass the baton to the next person.