A few days ago, along with hundreds of millions of people around the world, I watched the final day of the London 2012 Paralympic athletics programme. I witnessed individuals with some of the most severe disabilities known, push themselves to the limit of their physical capability.
A typical response to this kind of display is often pity. Sometimes, it's ridicule or insult. As I watched these athletes compete, I couldn't help but think that if any pity was called for, it ought to rest squarely on the shoulders of us 'normal' people spectating, before it could ever rightfully be directed towards any Paralympian.
What makes a champion? Surely it has to do with a passionate embrace of purpose and life in the face of seemingly overwhelming obstacles. It is reflected in the radiance and courage of the heart far more than it is in the display of skill. It's about dedication, about sacrifice, about picking yourself up off the floor when you have a perfectly reasonable excuse to curl into a ball and silently hope for an end to it all. The business of valour has everything to do with the realm of the heart.
I'm of the belief that natural strength, speed and endurance will eventually fade, but what will endure is faith, hope and love...the tenacious refusal of the human spirit to quit. I'm of the opinion that character is of infinitely greater importance and value than talent. It is for this reason that I believe that the true champions among us are not the strongest or the fastest, but rather those who grace us with glowing examples of what it means to find joy in the exuberant pursuit of life, especially in the face of otherwise tragic loss and limitations.
The truth of the matter is that these 'disabled' Paralympians are more alive than the vast majority of us who opt to spend most of our lives watching life rather than living it. Poor them? I think not. Poor us. Let us not condescend to these champions by offering them pity. Let us instead honour their example by seizing the day, our day, our dreams.
I have watched those without eyes race before thousands. I have observed those without limbs inspire many millions. In light of this beautiful bravery, what then, I ask myself, is my excuse?
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." (Theodore Roosevelt)
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Grant Alexander Cyster owns the blog entitled "I THINK, THEREFORE I ACHE.", offered as part of his Cape Town based freelance media business at: www.grantcyster.com
Well said Grant! We just witnessed an older women with a horrible condition which made it extremely difficult to walk, swim with her grandaughter. I was thinking wow, what an amazing woman, who can barely walk, not give up on life! It made me think how so many people choose that grey twilight instead of reaching for the stars....please Lord, let me choose life in my darkest days! Becker
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting, Becker! :) Thank God that life has already been extended to us. We take joy in what we have and who we are, rather than striving for some elusive treasure. Grace surrounds us now.
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