Inside My Head

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN YOUR LIFE NOW?

That’s a question I want you to take some time to think about. I’m not talking about the trivial things like waking up late for work or getting a flat tire, but I want you to think about the problem that keeps you awake at night. This is the same problem that makes you doubt yourself. Got it yet? Now keep on reading.

Now while you have your problem on your mind, I want you to think about the Ironman Triathlon. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a series of three events….swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and ending with a 26.2 mile run all done consecutively. The reason I’m mentioning this is because I want to talk about Dick and Rick Hoyt. Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father and son team that have competed in 6 Ironman Triathlons, 65 marathons including 25 consecutive Boston marathons, and in 1992, they biked and ran 3,735 miles across the USA in 45 days. This team sounds pretty amazing, but the reason I mention them is because Dick, the father is 65 years old and Rick, the son was disabled at birth because his umbilical cord wrapped around his throat and cut off the oxygen supply to his brain and he also has cerebral palsy. Dick pulls his son in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat as they bike, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they run.

For those who enjoy the game of baseball, now I want to talk about a certain pitcher. In his entire career, this guy has played in 263 games and started in 254 of them and has even played in 31 complete games. He may have thrown 53 wild pitches, but he’s thrown 888 strike outs, and pitched 6 shutouts. In spite of his 263 games, he’s only had 21 turns at bat and 2 hits. What makes this man extraordinary is that his name is Jim Abbott. If you’ve never heard of him, the biggest thing that you should know is that Jim Abbott is a left handed pitcher. He pitches left handed because he was born without a right hand yet in spite of his circumstance, he became a professional baseball player.

Now these two stories bring me back to your problem. Your problem is a pretty serious problem because it is serious to you. You’re probably not 65, dealing with cerebral palsy, and you might not be born with a birth defect, but it’s usually you alone who bears the weight of your problem. The point that I want to stress now is that being down does NOT equal defeat. Every day, we all have two choices…to succeed or fail. Honestly, it is that simple because in the face of difficult situations , we can either believe in our hearts that “this too shall pass” or we can think in our minds about how beat down our situation has us. You probably know someone personally who has overcome “impossible” situations or maybe you can remember a trial you’ve gone through that others would have simply quit. Understand that today is a day that you can determine to succeed, but otherwise your failure has already been determined.

“Determination and perseverance move the world; thinking that others will do it for you is a sure way to fail.” - Marva Collins

Trackback URI | Comments RSS