In addition to being the youngest-ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, Jeffrey Marx is co-founder and director of the non-profit Wendy Marx Foundation for Organ Donor Awareness.
Who/what contributed to your inner strength?
Family and faith. Without family and faith, it would be pretty difficult to develop and maintain hope. Without hope, it would be almost impossible to develop and maintain inner strength.
When in your life was your inner strength particularly tested and how did you deal with the incident?
The most difficult situation I've ever faced was (and is) the loss of my little sister. Wendy was my only sister and my best friend. In 1989, when Wendy was 22, she had a lifesaving transplant after Hepatitis B had destroyed her liver. For 14 years we were able to work together on our new cause, the Wendy Marx Foundation for Organ Donor Awareness. But in 2003 Wendy needed another transplant -- and this time we were not able to find a donor. On October 28, 2003, I held my only sister and best friend as she took her final breath. How do I deal with the pain of losing her? By doing the best I can to focus on the positive. I will always have the memories of everything we got to do together. I will always have the knowledge that our relationship was the most incredible relationship I have ever experienced in this world. I still feel the power of Wendy's energy every single day. And I make sure that I am constantly inspired by the power of her passion and purpose. Ultimately, that is what it all comes down to in this world: allowing ourselves to be driven by our passion and our purpose.
What suggestions do you have to help people realize their capabilities?
Don't try to be the best according to anyone else's terms. Be the best according to your own definition of the things that matter in this world. Just be the best YOU. Follow your passion. Be relentless about your purpose. Everything else will work itself out.
Why is it important to focus on inner strength?
Inner strength is what makes everything else possible. I once heard an interesting definition of the word impossible: It is that which cannot be done until somebody does it. Well, inner strength is usually what it takes to transform the impossible into the possible.
What are your next goals and what positive thoughts or activities keep you striving toward your goals?
I have two major projects. One is continuing our work (and it is indeed still "our" work) with the Wendy Marx Foundation for Organ Donor Awareness. Each and every day in this nation, 19 people die waiting for an organ transplant, simply due to the lack of donors. That is entirely unacceptable. We can change that. We need to change that. And we will. My other ongoing project is sharing the messages of the "Season of Life" book and the "Building Men for Others" program that is featured in its pages. I have been incredibly fortunate to witness this program changing lives every day. With that in mind, I am constantly striving to reach more families, more schools, more communities with its messages. Though "Season of Life" is my fourth book -- and I'm certainly not done writing -- I'm quite sure that this is the one book that I'll be working with for the rest of my life.
