What The World Needs

I went looking for motivation the other day and I found it.  I didn’t just find motivation, I found inspiration.  For some reason or another I felt compelled to watch highlights from the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.  I watched several videos but the one that stood out was the Women’s 100m - T42 Final.  You can view the video here. 

When you watch the video you already know that all of the women competing in the 100m final are amputees.  Some have one leg and some have lost both.  But, when the camera zooms in and goes down the line of competitors at the starting blocks for their introductions, you forget that these women are disabled.  What you see is a shot of each woman from the waist up.  Then, at the 1:48 mark the camera shot widens and again reveals that each of these young and fit athletes has a major disability.  The remainder of the video includes the race.  All of the women run the 100m faster than you and me :) and Martina Caironi of Italy wins.  

Tears swelled up in my eyes when I watched this video.  I showed it to Katie and she cried.  After watching this video a couple of times it hit me: the world doesn’t need phenoms near as much as it needs people who give it their absolute best in spite of their limitations.  

I love watching Usain Bolt run but I cry when I watch paralympians compete.  It is a completely different emotional reaction.  When I see an athlete like Usain Bolt compete I think “I could never do that.”  But when I see people like Kelly Cartwright (flying high in the photo below) I think “I’m not going to let anything stop me from doing ____x____.”  Kelly won the silver in the 100m - T42 final in London and won gold in the long jump at the same games.  A cancer diagnosis and losing her leg at the age of 15 didn’t stop her.

Be like Kelly Cartwright.  Be like any of the athletes that ran in the 100m final in London or any of the other athletes that competed in the 2012 paralympic games.