[I actually did this back LAST November or so and am just getting around to writing this]. Why you ask? I had just finished reading “The Boy Who Moved The Wind” and wanted to recommend it to Oprah (just in case she hadn’t heard about it) so that she could cover it on her show and add it to her reading list.

I first heard about William’s story from a friend’s Facebook post linking to a YouTube video titled “Moving Windmills”. Watching the video left me in awe of this kid and what he managed to accomplish with what little formal education and resources he had access to. When I saw that he had written a book I thought it would be interesting to find out how he figured out how to build a windmill.

Reading the book I realized how much suffering, endurance, determination, and resilience it took to get William to that TED stage where he said the words, “I try and I made it”. His success wasn’t simply achievement in the absence of education, but also perseverance in the midst of calamity.

I’m not the type to buy into the value of inspirational stories of those overcoming adversity (read: I’ve never been moved to internalize the actions or achievements of anyone else), but William’s story has changed my outlook and view on life . Seeing William continuing to work to succeed in his goals while simply struggling to survive made me redefine what I think it means to “try”.

[If it's not already clear, I recommend everyone to go buy and read this book].