Denzel Washington -- Where It Starts
There's always someone behind every success. For this Hollywood star, there were many.
I always did like Denzel Washington, but after reading his essay in Guideposts magazine I like him even more.
One of my favorite verses of the Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Powerful words, aren't they? They remind me of how important it is to give children a firm foundation. Show me a successful individual and I'll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don't care what you do for a living—if you do it well I'm sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor. I've had that push in my life, going back as far as I can remember. Here's how mentors can make a difference. Here's what they did for me.
Start dreaming.
The first push outside my own home came at the Boys Club in Mount Vernon, New York. I spent a lot of time there as a kid. My parents couldn't always be home when I was done with school. They were too busy working. My mother worked in beauty salons. My father was a preacher. He had a couple of churches—one in Virginia, the other in New York. In addition to that, he always had at least two full-time jobs.
From the time I was six, the Boys Club was my whole world. I learned how to play ball there and how to focus and set my mind on a goal. I learned about consequences and the difference between right...
