Andre Agassi, back pain sufferer

One of my daughters gave me Andre Agassi's autobiography OPEN for christmas, I was engrossed from start to finish. To learn that he hated the game really amazed me but I guess having been forced to play the game to the exclusion of a 'normal childhood' a degree of resentment was inevitable. What was even more interesting was the fact that his father, who had been the driving force behind making young Agassi play the game, more or less against his will, eventually begged his son to retire because he could no longer handle the stress of watching his son play.As his career progressed Andre observed that the moments of greatest fulfilment and enjoyment had nothing to do with success on a tennis court but in the positive ways in which he could impact the lives of those around him. At first his friends who were experiencing hard times or crises and eventually hundreds of young people through his educational foundation and the school he opened in Las Vegas.Not many of us will ever be able to obtain the sort of fame and profile that enables the likes of Andre Agassi to raise sufficient money to build and run a school but I know that in my life greater focus can be given to helping others in what ever way I can. Small steps that each of us take towards making someone elses life better must end up with a cummulative benefit to society as a whole.My resolution for 2010? To help.