The chilly winter afternoon wind blew from the desert and over a vacant city field. Across the street there was just enough space between a small casino and and a North Las Vegas bowling alley for a group of men, who were hunkered down, trying to stay warm.

One, a self described one-eyed drunken Indian, Stanford Wasburn, was doing what he usually did with these other homeless men on most days, drinking malt liquor.

As they passed around their high potency drinks Washburn noticed an older woman with a little girl standing at the crosswalk across the street.

Suddenly, without warning, he saw the little girl dart into the street, right into the path of a late-model Cadillac. The tires squealed as the driver hit the brakes as hard as she could.

The little girl's screams could be heard as she was dragged under the car, continuing until well after the car came to a screeching halt, pinning her tight to the car's undercarriage.

What happened next was truly amazing.

Washburn and the other three homeless men dashed into the street. Then, as by-passers watched but doing nothing, the four men did a seemingly impossible task. They lifted up the 5,000 pound car and pulled little Robyn Rubio to safety.

As she laid scraped, bruised and broken on the city asphalt, her aunt comforted the nine-year old. As the sirens of hope moved closer to the scene. Three of the rescuers scampered away, but Washburn stayed, unable to take his eyes off the little girl.

As little Robyn lay crying in pain, Washburn moved closer and knelt down, looking into the little girl's eyes and began chanting over and over again, "Don't go from us. Be well. Just be well, just be well.

In those few moments, lives would be forever changed.

Most of us, had we seen these four men coming down the street towards us, would have probably tried to avoid them. Dirty, dressed with layers of clothing to protect against the cold, holding paper bags with their most treasured possession, cheap beer or wine, they were truly societal outcasts.

In fact, after the rescue, the three men who took off probably did so, according to Washburn and the police, because of outstanding arrest warrants.

Washburn, a full-blooded one-eyed Navajo, has had a 20 year loosing romance with the bottle. It began right after a bitter divorce, sending him to the streets, homeless shelters and cardboard boxes. Nothing is known about the other three.

So, why did these four men not just stand by with the rest of the onlookers who stood there, staring, doing nothing?

Of all the people, why did these four drunks take such massive action? Why were they drunks one minute and hero's the next?

Where did this power and goodness come from?

I know why. I've studied it for over 20 years and it's a lesson that all of us can learn. I believe there is a hero inside of everyone of us. But there's something even more important that we can learn from this.

Since 9/11 I've come to detest the ease with which hero's are declared. Some millionaire athlete is called a hero for some meaningless act on a playing field.

A single mother, keeping her family together, working two jobs or doing whatever she can, making sure her kids are educated. There's a hero. Firefighters, police, soldiers, paramedics, how about them? They are either hero's or hero's in waiting. They signed up for it.

When I first began to study how we are affected by rejection, I began calling all the failures, rejections, disappointments and humiliations of life, NOs. ,

I began to pay attention to extraordinary acts by those who might have otherwise been defeated or silenced by the NOs of life. It's always fascinating to see those who became highly accomplished people after coming back from devastating losses.

The NOs effect us all in different ways. Some people just quit on living and disappear into mediocrity, the bottle, drugs and deep despair. Some use them to motivate themselves to be more than they were.

The NOs of life can hold us hostage. They hide the hero, the victor, the successful person inside, trapped behind fear and indecision.

Sanford Washburn and his pals can be the inspirational key for any of us who want to move beyond where we are.

My work on the NOs of life began simply because of a walk in New York City over 20 years ago, before giving a speech that night.

What I witnessed that day was life changing for me. As a result I spontaneously changed my speech. It eventually became titled, "How To Take No For An Answer And Still Succeed," which later became the book of the same title. It's about what happens after the NOs of life hit and how to escape the negative results.

When Mr. Washburn's story was printed in the Las Vegas Review Journal it brought home again just how extraordinary we can be.

Three months later, Robyn, in a wheelchair was visited by Washburn. She squealed with joy, recognizing him immediately from that horrible day.

She's on the mend, hopefully she will regain full mobility. Washburn, courtesy of an anonymous donor, had returned to his Navajo reservation in New Mexico but came back just to see Robyn. He said he hadn't had a drink since because he wanted to reestablish a relationship with his daughter and grandchild. For all of them we can only pray.

If you'd like more information on "How To Take No For An Answer," which is now available as an instantly downloadable ebook with bonuses, please visit; http://howtotakeno.com .

If you'd like to read the story of that New York City walk that changed my life and many others since, please visit; http://howtotakeno.com/index2.html

In the meantime, bring out from inside, one special thing today that you might not otherwise have done. Something special. It's inside of us all.