Look at the hardship of others; not for comparison but, for inspiration.
I was watching the news of injuries at the Olympics this year. One of our female downhill skiers was severely injured on one of her runs and almost lost her leg. It was a very horrific accident, and she ended up with several surgeries to just get her back on her feet. That’s it, just to make it so she could walk and she is working hard to get that far. She has her eyes on the mountain and you can see her plans for the future. I tend to be like everyone else and think, “How bad can my life be? Look at Lindsey Vonn and how she seems to be keeping her focus.”
Each of us ends up facing set backs or tragedy, and when we do, we tend to rate things by comparison. How bad is what I am facing compared to others? The thing is, what you can overcome; others might see as simple and still others might consider insurmountable. The reality comes down to this; how bad do you want something? When you look to the examples of others ask yourself, “How badly did they want their goals?”
When you compare, you just might be setting limits on your possible accomplishments. I would rather look at what others have overcome and find inspiration. Now; I would hope that you won’t ever have to face or overcome some of the odds that we are shown. The role models are worth looking to. It isn’t about the odds and what they overcame but the fact that they did overcome. Don’t look at someone and see what they had to overcome, just that they faced it and did so.
Ultimately what those people do is prove that if you want something badly enough, you will work hard enough to achieve it. I don’t want to go to the moon, but I want to have the perseverance to achieve the goals that Amanda Nguyen did. That women took time off from her goal to kick some serious patootie and then came back to achieve her goal! Franklin D. Roosevelt became a president after being paralyzed from the waste down, Beethoven continued to compose music after he went deaf; the list can go on… the point is this. Comparison gives you nothing save an excuse to fail. Inspiration; that is the key to possible success. We don’t read books about failures unless the failures ended up becoming successes in the end. Look to the stories of those who are facing the odds, not so you can feel better about your lot in life; so that you might understand that you don’t have to stay where you are. Everything is a choice, I choose to follow those who lead the way out of adversity and into a better future.