I heard about a few accidents in the last couple of days that have knocked friends off their feet. As I think about the lengthy recovery they’re facing, my heart goes out to them. And to you, be careful out there. We never know what today will bring.
I’ve also been thinking about what others, who faced almost insurmountable challenges, have done and the incredible strides they made. I wrote about this a number of years ago and thought I’d share it with you again now.
He hopped on one leg all the way to the water. With ease, strength, confidence. A friend at his side carried a surfboard, until they were knee high in the water. Then it was his. I was mesmerized by his hopping as my friend and I approached on our four-mile walk along the beach. We had two legs. He had one. Yet he was stronger in many more ways.
Then I saw his prosthetic leg casually leaning against a beach chair. Awaiting his return. I was in awe of this man with one leg learning to surf. I thought, he’s achieving his goal one hop at a time.
As I thought about this surfer, a couple of other stories came to mind.
—Don Bennett, the first amputee to reach the top of Mt. Rainier, battled many challenges to achieve his goal. He did it not just to prove to himself that he could, but to demonstrate to other amputees that they, too, could achieve more than they thought they could. One hop at a time.
—Anurima Sinha, shoved from a train in India, then run over by it and left for dead, determined that she would not be pitied for the rest of her life. She became the first female amputee to reach the top of Mt. Everest.
Both are inspirational. As is my surfer dude. Being inspirational comes from doing your best, despite challenges and setbacks. Each of us is inspirational in our own way. We each have more potential within us than we sometimes give ourselves credit for. We have thoughts and ideas that energize us, but they can get buried by fear of failure, lack of confidence, too many priorities, a fuzzy vision.
Bennett, Sinha and my surfer dude developed a clear and committed vision of what they wanted to do. They pictured themselves achieving it probably a million times. Mindset alone didn’t do it, though. It fortified them, but what got them there was specific action, broken into achievable hops. Resisting those who said it couldn’t be done. Moving forward with what they could do.
As we think of our challenging goals, visualizing the outcome we want is step one. But, we will get there only by taking steps two and three and four, reminding ourselves each day that we can do it… one hop at a time.
