Reading Your Style: Sugar Ray Leonard: I'm sex abuse poster child

Last week, I read in the Richmond Free Press that on Monday, October 28, 2012, boxing champion, Sugar Ray Leonard accounted at a sold-out conference on child sex-abuse, hosted by Penn State, that he, too, was sexually assaulted by his thought to be trusted coaches when he was training as a young boxer, and was a drug and alcohol abuser because of the trauma. I applaud the strength, valor, and willingness to contribute to a cause greater than himself. This conference comes as it was revealed that assistant football coach, for Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, 68, had sexually assaulted 10 boys he befriended through his charity for at-risk youth for which he has been sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison . Leonard said, "I beat myself up for years," proclaiming that, "I will be that leader. I will stand right there and say, 'Yes, something must be done now. Not later, now."

In my fashion, this is a wonderful example of the type of passion and initiative I mean to endorse this month as it pertains to MAN-ifesting your Destiny. It takes a lot to reveal painful aspects of our past, but the only way to make good use of a bad memory is to confront it, and use what you learned to help others.  I would hope that more children, and victims of sexual abuse find Leonard's story reason enough to confront their own fears and report abuse to the police.