Image courtesy of Simon Pais-Thomas
We all have weaknesses and strengths – no matter who we are. Sometimes the weaknesses seem to outweigh the strengths and sometimes it’s the other way around. Some people get sick easily. Some struggle to manage their finances properly. Some people are hopeless communicators and struggle with relationships.
Many people leave it and that and accept it as just bad luck - but not everyone. Some people facing huge limitations still manage to achieve tremendous things. They rise above their weaknesses and do not allow them to limit their possibilities.
It’s Your Choice
I attended a school prize-giving ceremony not so long ago and the guest speaker was Andrew Becroft, who had a severe stutter as a child. Instead of allowing this to limit him, he chose to to work hard to overcome it. He is now the Principal Youth Court Judge for New Zealand. Not only did he become successful, but he did so in a profession where he had to speak in front of others regularly — where his weakness is front and center for all to see. If he hadn’t worked on his speaking ability, it would have been very limiting to his life and career prospects.
You can find similar people on New Zealand News channels, and I suspect the same in other countries. There are a number of presenters and reporters who have a noticeably unusual manner of speaking. Perhaps they have a lisp, or they have a peculiar accent or pitch of voice. These people have succeeded in spite of what would be appear to be a weakness in their profession.
Lots of people face far more significant limitations than you do. They may be missing limbs or are born into extreme poverty. But no matter what the limitation, you will always find people who have overcome it.
Here are some more examples:
Brett Eastburn has no arms or legs and yet is an inspirational speaker and and also a very good wrestler. He shares his story in a brief video on his site.
Lance Armstrong’s bout with cancer meant he lost one testicle and had to go through chemotherapy which has a horrific effect on the body. Yet he went on to win the Tour de France, one of the most grueling sports events there is, a record 7 times.
Ringo Starr, drummer for the Beatles, came from a very poor background. He was constantly plagued with illness as a child and spent large amounts of time in hospital.
At 19 months old, Helen Keller became ill and lost her sight and hearing (before she’d learned to speak). She went on to become a world famous author and speaker, and an advocate of many social causes.
Grant Calder is a tetraplegic and yet he still works outdoors on a large sheep farm in New Zealand’s rugged South Island. Here is his inspiring story.
Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. As a child she suffered measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox, double pneumonia and eventually polio, leaving her left leg and foot weak and deformed. Doctors said she would never walk again. She went on to win 3 gold medals in track during the 1960 Olympic games.
Mark Inglis lost both of his legs below the knees in a mountaineering accident, but has since climbed Mt Everest.
Bill Wilson was an alcoholic who wanted to help other alcoholics and founded what was to become Alcoholics Anonymous, a movement that has helped millions of people.
No One Would Have Predicted These Successes
These above are cases involving individuals with significant limitations, and it can be easy to write them off as exceptions to the rule, but that’s not the case. They were just people with problems. If one of these people had told you what they hoped to achieve you would have nodded kindly while quietly thinking to yourself that they had no chance. And yet the results speak for themselves.
We All Face Challenges in Life
Most of us will never have to face the kinds of challenges these people faced. Yet most of us will never achieve to the degree that these people have either.
Unless we choose to.
If Mark Inglis can climb the highest mountain in the world without legs, what can you do?
If you liked this, check out Julian’s blog Present Outlook for more inspiring articles.
In his movie debut, Ambition to Meaning, Wayne Dyer explores the spiritual journey in the second half of life when we long to shift from ambition to meaning and find the purpose that is our unique contribution to the world.
“I’ m more proud of this film than of anything I’ve ever done before.” – Wayne Dyer
Visit AmbitionToMeaning.com to watch the trailer and music videos or to order the DVD.
译文:
别让你的缺点限制你
西蒙 帕里斯 汤姆斯的照片
我们每个人都有优点和缺点，不论你是谁。有时缺点似乎大于优点，有时则相反。有些人很容易生病。有些人努力管理好他们的财务。有些人很不善于交流，艰难地处理维系人际关系。
许多人对他们的缺点放任不理或者把它们当作是坏运气而接受，然而不是每个人都这样。有些人面对重大的局限仍然能取得极大的成就。他们超越了自身的缺点，不让这些缺点限制了他们获得成功的可能性。
这是你的选择。
不久以前我参加了一个学校的颁奖典礼。典礼的嘉宾发言人是安德鲁 ·克罗夫特，他小时侯曾经有过严重口吃。他没有让这个缺陷限制他，而是选择努力去克服它。他现在是新西兰的青年法院的首席法官。他不仅取得了成功，而且是在一个需要经常在他人面前讲话的职位——一个他的缺点暴露在前台和中心，所有人都看到的职位上，他取得了成功。如果他没有努力去提高他的讲话能力，这个缺陷可能会对他的生活和事业前途造成很大的限制。
你可以在新西兰的新闻频道中发现很多这样的人，我认为在其他国家也有这样的人。有许多节目主持人和播音员的说话方式明显地不同寻常。他们可能有口吃，或者带有特别的口音，或者音调很特别。尽管这些对他们的职业来说可能是一种缺陷，但他们还是取得了成功。
许多人面对的限制比你的还要大。他们可能失去了肢体或者生下来就极度贫苦。但是不管是什么限制，你总发现有人克服了这些限制。
以下是更多的例子：
布雷特·伊斯特伯纳没有胳膊或者腿，却成为了一个有感召力的演说家，还是一个优秀的摔跤手。他在他的网站中的一段简短的录像里讲述了他的故事。
兰斯·阿姆斯壮与癌症的较量意味着失去他了一个睾丸，还要接受对身体有可怕的副作用的化疗。然而他连续7次赢得了环法自行车赛（一项极为消耗体能的运动）的冠军。
林戈·斯塔尔，披头士乐队的鼓手，出身非常贫寒。他小时候常常疾病缠身，大量的时间都是在医院度过。
十九个月时，海伦·凯勒生了一场病，失去了她的视力和听力（在她学会说话之前）。然而她努力成为了世界著名的作家和演讲家，提倡许多社会事业。
格兰特·考尔德是一个四肢麻痹的人，但他仍在新西兰崎岖不平的南部岛屿的一个大型牧羊场进行户外工作。这儿是他的鼓舞人心的故事。
威尔玛·鲁道夫是家中22个孩子中的第20个。在小时侯她曾患过麻疹，腮腺炎，猩红热，水痘，双侧肺炎，最后是小儿麻痹症，结果导致左腿和左脚功能弱化和残废。医生说过她可能再也不能走路了。然而她却在1960年奥运会的田径赛中赢得了三枚金牌。
马克·英格里斯在一次登山意外之中失去了膝盖以下的双腿，但他后来却登上了珠穆朗玛峰。
比尔·威尔逊是一个嗜酒者，他希望帮助其他嗜酒者。他成立了嗜酒者匿名互诫运动，帮助了数万人。
没有人预料到这些成功
上述事例中的人都有严重的缺陷，很容易把他们当作特例而认定他们会失败，但情况并非如此。他们只是有问题的人。如果这些人中的其中一人告诉你他们希望实现的目标，你可能会善意地点点头，却在心里默默地想他们没有机会。但结果不言自明。
我们都面临生活的挑战
我们大多数人都不会面对这些人所面对的挑战，而我们大多数人也无法取得这些人所取得的这么大的成就。
除非我们选择努力。
如果马克·英格里斯没有腿却能登上世界上最高的山峰，你能做什么呢？
如果你喜欢这个，找到茱莉亚的博客《现在的观点》阅读更多感人的故事。
在首次登台亮相的电影《从抱负到价值》中，韦恩·戴尔在后半生他开始了他的心灵之旅，在后半生人们渴望从抱负转向价值，渴望找到我们对这个世界的独一的贡献的目的。
韦恩·戴尔说：“在我所做过的事中，这部电影是我最引以为豪的。”
你可以访问AmbitionToMeaning.com看看该片的预告片或者音乐录像或者订购该片的VCD。