I hope you’re sitting down because this message is going to rock your world. This is message 393 and day 47 in the 8-C Challenge and is dedicated to Debra Brown.

I got another letter from one of my heroes. I told you the other day when I read you my letter from TR that I have correspondence with some pretty famous pen pals. One listener was shocked and confused, calling me a liar and that he is dead. I had to explain this is just imaginative.

So I’ll preface this with the fact that this letter from Wilma Rudolph is made up. She died in 1994. She is my inspiration for a mindset of becoming more than I think is possible. She contracted a disease that crippled her at the age of four and doctors gave her no hope of ever getting better. Her mother however told her she would. She decided to become more than she thought was possible, even going against what the experts were telling her. She believed her mom even more than what she thought possible for herself. Do you know what happened? Well, I’ll let her tell you. Imagine getting a personal letter from Wilma, encouraging you to become more than you think, just like she did. I’ll read her letter to you:

“I am a testament to the power of belief. Not just any belief, but a belief that transcends our immediate circumstances, our perceived limitations, and the naysayers who might doubt our potential. My life is a story of believing more for myself than even I thought I could become. 

“I was born prematurely, the twentieth of twenty-two children, and at a mere four pounds. Life was a struggle from the start. At the age of four, I was stricken with polio, a disease that left my left leg twisted and paralyzed. The doctors said I would never walk again without braces. But my mother, God bless her, believed otherwise. She told me that with faith, persistence, and hard work, I could overcome this challenge. I don’t know what you’re facing, what problem or limitation you think is stopping you, but you may not think so now, but I want to challenge you to become more than you think. If you can’t believe it for yourself, listen to someone else believe it for you, like my mom did for me.

“Every week, my mother and I traveled over 50 miles to seek therapy for my leg. We didn’t have much, but we had hope and determination. She would massage my leg every day, twice a day, and gradually, I began to walk, first with braces, then with a special shoe, and finally, to everyone’s amazement, without any support at all. This was my first lesson: perseverance is the fuel of miracles.

“By the time I reached high school, I had not only walked but run, and run fast. I joined the basketball team, and it was there that I was discovered by Ed Temple, the track coach at Tennessee State University. He saw potential in me that I had yet to see in myself. He believed I could be a world-class sprinter. With his guidance, I trained rigorously, pushing my body and mind beyond what I thought possible.

“In 1960, at the Rome Olympics, I became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympiad. I won the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and anchored the 4×100 meters relay team to victory. It wasn’t just about the medals, though. It was about the journey from a leg brace to the Olympic podium, from a child who was told she might never walk to a woman who sprinted her way into history. This was my second lesson: that with belief and hard work, you can achieve far more than you ever imagined.

“But my journey didn’t end with those victories. I returned home to Clarksville, Tennessee, at a time in America when there were deep racial divisions and insisted that my homecoming parade and banquet be open to all races, challenging the segregation that still gripped the South. You have to use your victories to inspire and uplift others. This was my third lesson: a miracle can’t stop with you but gives you the power to break barriers for others as well.

“Your path might be fraught with obstacles, your dreams might seem out of reach, but remember my story. Remember that a little girl who once needed braces to walk became the fastest woman in the world. I’m not special. If I didn’t believe what my mom thought was possible I wouldn’t be telling you my story now. I’m telling you to become more than you think. More than you think possible is possible. A miracle can happen for you. You can achieve more than you imagine. When you do, pass your miracle onto others.”