Mahattan Beach Woman's Father Taught Her To #StandTall

Patch and When the Game Stands Tall are asking about the coaches, teachers or mentors who inspired you.

Jenna Humphrey writes about someone she has known her entire life – her father!

Mentor Name: Larry Humphrey

Known Mentor for: 30 years

School: MB

Town: Manhattan Beach

State: Humphrey House

What mentor taught about success: First off, my Dad is the father of 4 girls....so he should win an award just for that. He really is our hero and we can’t imagine our lives or what kind of people we would be without him. There are so many life lessons that my Dad taught us that make him the most amazing mentor. Though he was never a teacher by profession, he was the best teacher I have yet to have. From an early age, my Dad always taught us that in order to truly succeed in life you must be giving and humble. These were amongst the first characteristics that my Dad instilled in us. He showed us that how you measure someones success is by the type of person they are and not by what they have. My Dad (who loved to recite Coach John Wooden) would tell us “that you can’t live a perfect day, without doing something for someone that will never be able to repay you.”

My Dad not only preached about living a humble and altruistic life, he lived it every day with his actions. Whether it was volunteering for countless charities, giving to to those less fortunate, promoting community efforts in the church, assisting the elderly, building camps for children, my Dad was always “that guy”. That guy that never turned down an opportunity to help out someone else. Sometimes that person is family, a friend or neighbor, sometimes it’s a perfect stranger that had been dealt a hard hand in life and needed a helping hand. Thanks to my Dad, that is how I measure if someone is succeeding in life.

What mentor taught about dealing with failure: In my Dad’s eyes, there was no such thing as failure if you tried your best. He taught us that if we weren’t making mistakes, than we weren’t learning. When I was almost 4 my Dad took the training wheels off my bike (probably a little too early for my skill level). I fell off in the first few seconds and ended up with a gashed face and broken nose. The only memory I have of that experience was looking backwards and seeing that my Dad believed that I could do it. So I got right back up the next day and tried again (and luckily never had to put the training wheels back on again).

Best advice from mentor: Here are a few of my favorite pieces of advice from my Dad….. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. To ALWAYS contribute to your 401k. He taught us that in relationships, there’s a lid for every pot, so just be yourself. He taught us to respect ourselves and then demand that respect from boys. Respect and be gracious your elders, one day you will be one. To always believe in something bigger than yourself. You have to pray hardest, when it’s hardest to pray. You can’t go through life wearing a glove on both hands, sometimes you have to throw it back.