so, what is YOUR excuse?

actor Christopher Reeve saw struggles from his total paralysis, yet he continued to work on films and even wrote a book about his struggles. So, what is OUR excuse?

"God said:

If only you would regard yourself as beautiful, you would revolve in the world differently, and you would give tribute to the world. And the world will revolve differently because of you. The rhythm of the world will change. The world will transform itself according to how you see yourself and, therefore, how you see the world." 

I read this and thought of all of the things that I used to do: I could run for hours on adrenaline to get things done! I had kids to care for, a house to clean, jobs to work and yet I still had time to do other stuff, too. It boggles my mind now to think of it. So now that pain has me sidelined, I am feeling as if my worth is nothing more than two icky pennies that everyone overlooks. "What good am I now?" I ask myself. "Where is my worth?" 

Last night on the national news, there was a story of a young boy with cerebral palsy who has a real hard time walking. His tiny, thin legs are bowed and he wobbles, yet he decided to enter a running race. Well, as you can imagine, the other children took off, leaving him in the dust and yet....what happened next made me tear up. 

The gym teacher ran over to the boy, then began to run WITH him, encouraging him. This child would NOT give up!

 He continued on with every ounce of energy he had, though that, too, was quickly running out. Then other children began to run by his side, encouraging him. "Come on, you can do it! Come on, almost there!" and he did it! His face lit up as a crowd of about fifty people of all ages cheered and celebrated his success!

Success? He came in dead last, you're probably thinking. But it is there that you are wrong. His heart would not allow him to quit. It is there that all battles are won; in the hearts and minds of all of us we wage a war with daily struggles, me included. The trick is: to not allow those voices of defeat take us down!

So as a reminder to me...and to the rest of you out there, yes, you have struggles, be it jobs, family issues, money issues, relationships gone wrong, addictions calling your name, whatever it is. Yes, you want to give in and quit. Yes, you are tired. But learn from this child: don't quit. The victory is in looking the devil in the eye and saying, "Be gone, I have conquered!"