Here’s something for all you youth and others: Remember that no one, no government, person or group can stop you in your journey towards success if you believe in yourself and the fact you can do it. Believe you can and you will.

An interesting incident took place in a football game at which a doctor found himself treating five spectators for a stomach disorder. Each complained of nausea, dizziness and cramps. Upon checking, the doctor learnt that all five had previously consumed soft drinks from the only shop outside the stands. An announcement was immediately made to the crowd that it would be wise not to have drinks from that shop in the stadium because certain people were becoming ill.

By the third quarter of the game, 200 people all of whom had been slurping sodas were reporting the same symptoms. Half of these hurried off to a nearby hospital. However, later in the afternoon the doctor found that his five original patients had also eaten bhel puri from a roadside stall on the way to the game. The bhel puri, not the drinks, was apparently the culprit.

An announcement was made and almost immediately those who were sick felt remarkably better. The fans taken to the hospital were sent home as their symptoms quickly disappeared.

What does this show? It shows the tremendous power of belief! What we believe to be true often becomes true and the same power of our beliefs dramatically affects our future. Mahatma Gandhi found this principle to be true in his own experience. “If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it,” he said. “But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it, even if I did not have the ability in the beginning.”

I would like to share a poem that hung near my bed as a student:
If you think you're beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost for sure, you won't.
If you think you're losing, you've lost.
For out in the world we find —
Success begins with a person's will,
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you're outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise.
You have to stay with it,
In order to win the prize.
Life's battles don't always go,
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later the one who wins,
Is the one who thinks he can!

Great belief is great power, and more than any other single factor, great belief in yourself will bring about what you want in life!