The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old-fashioned, pot-bellied coal stove. An eight-year-old boy named Glenn Cunningham had the job of coming to school early each day so that he could use kerosene to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates arrived. One cold morning someone mistakenly filled the kerosene container he used with gasoline, and disaster struck.

The class and teacher arrived to find the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. Terrified on realizing that Glenn was inside, they rushed in and managed to drag the unconscious little boy out of the flaming building more dead than alive. He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital.

From his bed, the dreadfully burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die – which was for the best, really – for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body.

But the brave boy didn’t want to die. Glenn made up his mind that he would survive. And somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive.

Yet when the mortal danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost be better if he had died, since he was doomed to be a lifetime cripple with no use at all of his lower limbs. His mother refused to let the doctors amputate.

Once more this brave little boy made up his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately from the waist down, Glenn had no motor ability. His thin, scarred legs just dangled there, all but lifeless.

Ultimately Glenn was released from the hospital. Every day afterward his mother and father would massage his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever.

When he wasn’t in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair. Glenn pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him.

He worked his way to the white picket fence bordering their lot. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.

Ultimately through his daily massages, Glenn’s iron persistence and his resolute determination, he did develop the ability first to stand up, then to walk haltingly with help, then to walk by himself – and then miraculously – to run.

Glenn began to run to school. He ran for the sheer joy of running and being able to run. He ran everywhere that he could. The people in his town would often see him run by on his way to who knows where and smile. Later in college Glenn made the track team where his tremendous determination paid off. He eventually received the nickname the “Kansas Flyer.”

In February 1934, in New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run – this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the mile in four minutes and eight seconds, the world’s fastest indoor mile, Later that same year in a prestigious outdoor track meet, he shaved another second off his record to run the world’s fastest mile to that time.

INFLUNSR defines grit as choosing passion over distraction.

CEO, author, and media commentator, Joshua DuBois is one of our country’s top voices on community partnerships, religion in the public square, and issues impacting African Americans. Joshua led the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships under President Obama. In the White House he brought together community leaders from across the ideological spectrum to tackle the nation’s biggest challenges. Joshua is now CEO of Gauge (getgauge.com), a mobile market research platform, and also leads Values Partnerships, one of the country’s top social impact agencies. He is a frequent media commentator and author of the bestselling book, “The President’s Devotional: The Daily Readings that Inspired President Obama,” a compilation of the devotional meditations he shared with the President and narratives of faith in public life.

Joshua’s story oozes grit. Based on his story, let’s dive into ten questions to get you thinking about becoming a gritty influencer:

• Is there a dream (or dreams) you want to pursue, and that you know you’ll regret not pursuing if you don’t?
• What do you wake up for? What makes your heart pound with passion?
• When is the right time to go outside of your comfort zone?
• What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
• Did you succeed or fail (at the hardest thing you’ve ever done)? Why?
• Who is it in your life that wants you to succeed?
• What are your top strengths?
• When you are at your best, how do your strengths emerge?
• Who is your best possible future-self?
• What obstacles will you have to overcome to live your best possible life?

We asked you to watch the movie Cast Away with a group of friends. Let’s discuss…

Obsessively punctual FedEx executive Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is en route to an assignment in Malaysia when his plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean during a storm. The sole survivor of the flight, Chuck washes ashore on a deserted island. When his efforts to sail away and contact help fail, Chuck learns how to survive on the island, where he remains for years, accompanied by only his handmade volleyball friend, Wilson. Will Chuck ever return to civilization and reunite with his loved ones?

• Chuck, as his job requires, is focused on the passage of time. Watches and clocks become a motif in the film, reiterating this point. What lesson does Chuck learn in his experience as a cast away and his return to society that deals with the element of time?
• Although Chuck is sorely hurt by losing Kelly twice, once in the airplane crash and then later when she decides to remain with her husband, he finds solace in the angel wings on the package that he has kept throughout his experience and which he delivers at the end of the film. What do these wings symbolize? What does the delivery of the package after so many years symbolize?
• Wilson is important for Chuck when he is stranded; he is crushed when the volleyball is lost in his escape attempt. What does Wilson represent in terms of survival?

We asked you to watch the TedTalk featuring Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Let’s discuss…

Click here to watch the TedTalk

• In Duckworth’s opinion, educators need a better understanding of learning from what perspective? Why?
• What is a growth mindset?
• How are talent and grit related?
• How do you think grit leads to influence?

We asked you to take the Grit Scale test that reflects how passionate and persevering you see yourself to be.

Click here to take the test

How does the answer to your scale make you feel about where you are regarding personal grit?

As a next generation leader, there are pressing issues that require a leader worth following to choose passion over distraction. One such issue was illuminated this past week:

Click here to read the article

We asked you to consider the following issues, choose one that you are most passionate about, and do your research and create a one page declaration of what you believe is the correct course of action to begin the process of transformation with the respective issue you’re most passionate about. Let’s discuss the issue you chose and the course of action you thought about…

• Sexual abuse within the Church
• Health care reform
• Systemic racism
• Prison reform
• Immigration