May 24, 2008
Your Missing Leg Is Your Ally
By Joel Welsh, Showcase U CEO
I was barely awake as I started my workout at the gym this morning. As I settled in to ramp up on the stationary bike, I noticed an unusual motion out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see a very fit man with a cut and strong upper body bouncing on a stair climber. "Why is he bouncing?" I wondered through the cobwebs in my head.
Then I noticed that he was missing his right leg. It didn't seem to matter to him. He was sweating up a storm, panting hard as he went after it, working way harder than I expected to do today.
It turned out we had neighboring lockers and I ran into him as we were dressing after our showers.
"How you doin'?" I asked.
"Great. Nothing like a good workout."
We chatted for a few moments while we dressed, and talked a little about mundane things like what we each had planned for the rest of the day now that we had finished our morning workout. That was it. But I kept thinking about this man and the adversity that he has to overcome as he lives each day with only one leg.
Then I realized that all of us have stuff missing in our lives, it's just that this gentleman's missing thing is more clearly visible to others. The key to success is taking that missing thing and treating it as a motivator and as something to drive us to overcome. It's in that overcoming that we show ourselves to be stronger than we ever could have been even if we had all of our legs.
What's missing in your life today? How do you plan to overcome it and win the day?