The Greatest Gift of a Mother: Marco Mero

When I watched today’s YouTube video by Marc Mero, I cried.  You will too.

But don’t worry, your tears should never be mistaken for weakness. They are what writer Washington Irving calls “messengers of power” and “unspeakable love.”

Meet Marc Mero, an American amateur boxer and professional wrestler.  He is retired now but his ring name, Johnny B Badd, solidified his star power in the World Wrestling Foundation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) rings. I’m sure anyone who watched Marc’s matches or witnessed his debut on Wrestlemania XII would never imagine this tough guy crying in front of the nearly 10 million people. Who has seen this video.

Marc shares the transformative moment when his life changed and the regret that finally helped him to overcome the drug addiction and wasted pursuit of “all the wrong things”.

He turned a lifetime spent chasing fame and fortune into a motivational speaking career as the founder of a nonprofit organization in 2007 called Champion of Choices.

Marc’s dramatic rise to fame and ability to surmount life-threatening challenges echoes the path of Genghis Khan.  Both Marc and Genghis credit their mothers for their success, even though they battled different setbacks.

Maybe it’s a stretch – a Khan from Mongolia and an American wrestler – but they share one thing in common:  the unconditional love of a mother who helped shaped them. While viewers will no doubt take a variety of different lessons away from Marc’s words of wisdom, we can all appreciate what it takes to share openly and honestly with each other.  In doing so, Marc underscores the central focus of our month-long theme devoted to mothers.  Appreciate the good people in your life and tell them you do, especially your mother.

Happy Friday and consider bookmarking Marc’s uplifting message and listening to it a few times.  It’s powerful message gives me the same kind of watery eyes that Lisa Nicols’ Rescuing Yourself did.  She spoke about saving yourself and for many of us, like Marc, our mothers play a big role in helping us help ourselves.