Sheppard hosts motivational speaker during'Focus Week'

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jelani Gibson
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The 82nd Training Wing's "focus week" kicked off Aug. 4 when Dan Clark, a motivational speaker who has given speeches to more than four million people in 50 countries, spoke to Airmen about the concepts of significance and resiliency.

Focus Week, an 82nd TRW initiative that puts emphasis on its mission to "train and inspire," aimed to have Airmen across the base centralize resiliency into their lives.
 
Navigating through the sound of an introduction video, booming microphone and clapping hands, Clark took the stage and scanned the filled-to-capacity theater. His purpose was for the video of his accolades to have a deeper meaning and purpose beyond showcasing what he accomplished.

"We owe it to each other to answer that question, 'why should I listen to you,'" Clark said. "The second question is, 'can I do what you have done."'

In the midst of talking about inspiration and significance, Cark recalls the moment in his life when he was paralyzed as the result of a football injury. Many of the doctors he went had told him he would never walk again.
 
"I had hit rock-bottom," Clark said. "In my mind that's what resilience is about."

He didn't stay at rock-bottom. Instead he went on to walk across the international stage, speaking to people about success. According to Clark, it is the act of feeling needed and significant that should drive individuals, including military personnel, to do great things and assist others.

"I just like helping people," said Master Sgt. Justin Mandeville, an 82nd Medical Group first sergeant. "I like to think I make a difference."

Clark spoke to both military and civilian personnel on base in the midst of focusing his speech on the 82nd TRW mission of "train and inspire."

"I want Sheppard to benefit from that," said Brig. Gen. Michael Fantini, 82nd Training Wing commander.

As Clark continued to speak among the auditorium a silence enveloped the theater as he pressed his point home.

"We must be willing to pay any price and travel any distance to associate with extraordinary human beings," Clark said. "Resilience, integrity, service before self, they're all just words until you experience them yourself."