Twenty-six of the greatest lessons I was ever taught.

This is a chapter from The ABCs of Dan M. Wilson.

We’ve all seen it happen – a sports team charging back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit to clinch the victory; a hospital patient that is left for dead making a miraculous recovery; you name it. Somehow, when nearly all indicators are pointing to a particular outcome, things change and the tables are turned. Every one of these circumstances came about because someone underestimated.

“Wow, I guess you just never know…”

I heard those words uttered time and time again by both my parents while growing up. Each time it was spoken they had received news or witnessed an event that turned out in a different way than originally expected. It’s just human nature to assess a situation that seems lopsided and assume that it’s going to turn out a particular way. Granted, the majority of the time things will turn out the way you figured they would…but “you just never know.”

Underestimating is a fault that everyone has at one time or another. They’ll underestimate someone else’s resilience and drive to accomplish something for one reason or another. And while it is certainly difficult to remain positive in situations like this, the mark of a true champion comes from his or her absolute refusal to throw in the towel.

You and I watched the entire “Rocky” series together. Sure, they were all movies and they can make them turn out however the screenwriters wanted them to but the message is there. People underestimated Rocky and he proved them wrong in the end. What’s the better victory in this situation, the fact that Rocky defied the odds and proved everyone else wrong or the fact that he didn’t give up on himself? Some people spend their whole lives gloating about the former when they should be regaling in the latter.

Wow, I guess you just never know…

Grandpa Dan and Grandma Pat championed me during some of my most defining moments of my life. I honestly cannot recall a time when they told me that I would fail at something. They taught me to never underestimate myself…or the will of another. “For every person that is out there trying to accomplish what (I am) doing,” they would tell me, “there are a thousand others trying to do the same.”

Every parent tells his or her child that they “can do anything (they) set their mind to” but few parents managed to truly instill this concept into their child’s brain to the point where it takes hold and blossoms. This is one of the reasons why I am so competitive. Mom and Dad truly started a fire within me that made me believe that I could do things that others could not. I was taught to never underestimate my own abilities.

Don’t ever underestimate your own abilities, either. Stick to your guns because you never know when someone else has the same fire in their eyes that you do.