Daniel Delenela
I have a black belt by the name of Daniel Delenela who lives in Round Rock, Texas. Daniel came to the United States from the Phillipines in the late 70s, landing in Colorado at the age of 18. He got a job as a dishwasher in a high-end hotel there. One of the few people he knew told him that all he needed to be a success was to be a dishwasher. This man told him he had two jobs washing dishes and things were great.
One day, Daniel wanted a Coke to drink on his break. Not being familiar with the layout, etc., he asked where he could get one. He was told all he had to do was go stand by the bar and ask. The waiter handling drinks was busy and Daniel waited as his break time was dwindling. He finally did what most of us would have done, which was to flag the waiter.
The waiter rushed over and verbally unloaded on Daniel, telling him never to do such a thing and indicating he was not of high enough station to even think he could wave down a waiter. In short, he embarrassed and belittled him.
As you might imagine, Daniel quit that job not long after. When he was leaving he told the supervisor that he’d be back someday, as a guest in that hotel. He’d stand in that very spot, order his Coke and get it. This person scoffed as well, saying it was such a high-dollar hotel there would be no way he could afford to ever do so.
Daniel moved up in the world, met and married his wife Anne, and was living in Texas where she has a great job and he runs his Tang Soo Do studio. The studio is about six years old as of this writing and he’s approaching the 200 student mark. They also have a daughter who is top of her class at school. His wife’s job takes her across the US and Daniel and their daughter sometimes go along. So guess where the job took them? That’s right – to Colorado and that very hotel.
Daniel and his wife explored the hotel, which had since expanded to two buildings, and found the restaurant he had worked in. He stood in that spot, he ordered his Coke and made real a promise from almost 40 years ago. His wife told him she was glad to be there to be a part of it, which is icing on the cake. It may seem like a small thing but when you consider what he did to make it a reality, it’s quite an inspirational story.
This from Mr. Delenela;
“The power of thought and mindset that one has maps the path for ones destiny. I believed what was said to me when I was 18 created a powerful stronghold on me. It wasn’t when I realized that there was something more to my life than just being a dishwasher that I needed to make a mindset shift which essentially cancelled the trajectory of the previous path. I believe that thought becomes actions and habits and further fuels one character leading to his or her destiny. I guess the message of this life story is to show how powerful one’s mindset is to his or her destiny. If I continued to believe that my only path to success was holding two jobs as a dishwasher, I know I would be that for the rest of my life and be okay with it. Declaring it at the time and believing that there was something more fueled the pursuit for something greater.”