Yolanda Moore: Showing How You Can Win If You Don't Quit

by Cyrus Webb

"Don't put a limit on anything. The more you dream the farther you get."

That quote by celebrated Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps sums up how people who recognize their purpose and calling in life view each and every day that they have.

In 2012 I was fortunate enough to be introduced online to fellow Mississippian Yolanda Moore, an individual who has also made her mark in sports and is now celebrating the release of her book YOU WILL WIN IF YOU DON'T QUIT.  She is showing through her example how you can't be defined by your circumstances, and you can't give up on yourself.

In our conversation I asked her about the experiences that have made her who she is today: excelling in sports, being a public speaker and now an author. What has she learned that she now wants to impart to others? "I have to say my life shows that the starting point doesn't matter. All that matters is where you're going." Moore sees it as a privilege "to be able to use things what I've gone through to help others find hope in their situation." She admitted to me, however, it was not what she initially sought out to do. "It was more about coming to grips with my past and my life and things that have happened to me," she explained.

Growing up she would say to herself that there's got to be something better out there. She knew that if things were that difficult for her at that point where she was that there had to be something better out there. "Nothing that I've gone through is new," she told me. "It's a matter of how you deal with it. Instead of looking at it as something bad, I began to see it as a learning experience."

What Yolanda Moore experienced growing up showed her exactly what she didn't want for her life as an adult. Her way out came on the basketball court. "Basketball has been my saving grace," she told me. "Throughout my whole life it's been the one area I've been able to find some solace in and gain confidence in. I told myself that I was going to use this to make my life better."

Basketball has been good to Moore, but even her gift has not come without difficulty. One thing that didn't leave her was the belief that dreams can come truth. "If it's out there then I can get it," she says. "I can have it. If other people can live successfully, then I can, too."

Moore's journey and her book allow you and I to find the confidence needed to keep going. "I'm still here for a reason," she says. "Every day that you wake up is a sign that your work here is not done. When those situations arise we know how to go through them without losing our minds. Everything that has happened in life has prepared me for where I am. I want everyone out there to know that no matter how bad it is, as long as you are here it is not over."

Find out more about Yolanda Moore's journey and book at her website www.yolandamoore33.com. You can also keep up with her on social media through www.twitter.com/ymoore33 and www.facebook.com/yolandamoore33.