We all have our road to travel throughout our lives. Sometimes it is straight and clear, sometimes it is bumpy and other times it takes an unexpectable turns just to lead us to a place we weren't prepared or willing to be. That is when some of us break down and decide to give up. But there are those of us that deep inside have a strong desire to live, to be what they can be and reach their full potential no matter the hits they might take on their way! And I will tell you about somebody that did exactly this! He faught! He kept pushing! And he came out a winner- a winner in life and in sports! His name is Kyle Maynard! And if you haven't heard that name before, you've missed a lot!
Who is he? On a Sunday morning, in March 24,1986 he came into the world. He was born a congenital amputee, his arms ending at his elbows and his legs at his knees. Back then somebody might have thought that he was not a normal kid, he was gonna have a really hard life! But was it that way? Maybe they were right for the part about not being a normal kid, and not because he was born with some physical disability, but because he was something more than others! He was a person with a really big heart, with a raging fire inside that kept him going.
I heard about Kyle a couple years ago when I got injured and I lost my desire live life. I was just going thorugh the days, waiting for my life to pass by! But then I decided to start reading about people that overcame hardships and achieved their dreams...so that is how I encountered a video about Kyle Maynered and from than on I was one of his biggest fans. I bought his biography book, and it is called "No excuses"-I think it says it all!
Kyle Maynard lifting weights...There are no excuses on the way to your dreams!
I love the way Kyle accepts the fact that a he was born a congenical amputee. What he says is that
" eventhough I was born with much shorter limbs than the average person, I know that I was not born to be an inferior individual. I was born to succeed, not to allow physical limitations to stand in the way of my dreams!" Isn't that specatcular? How often can you hear somebody say it? All I can hear around all day is people complaining how hard life is. How their dreams are impossible and how somebody cursed them to fail!! How is that possible? A person like Kyle who can have the right to complain and feel sorry he isn't like everybody else, has such an optimistic view of life, and others that have more physical gifts, always find an excuse! That is just another example how it is not the physical or intelectual gifts you were given...it is something more! It is all about heart!
It looks to me that it is true that only when you know deep in your heart what you want, that is when you will have it. Only when you fight for it, and never make excuses when you meet a hardship!
Kyle's biography book starts with a forward by his coach-Cliff Ramos. What he tells there is how back when Kyle was in highschool his mother called coach Ramos and told him that her son wanted to wrestle. SHe explaine dthat he had a pysical condition that he should be aware of. Not knowing what she was talking about, the coach replie dthat they had coaches that could handle it. Then she said that her son had very short stubs for arms, and small feet that gave him only stubs for legs.
At first the coach was mute...he paused for a second but then when he met Kyle or actually when he saw him on the mat wrestling his life and view took a turn! He says how during a match he would watch Kyle and say to himself " That is impossible". He also goes further saying how :
"There have been times in my personal life when I have thought about Kyle to help me through a situation. I ahve pictured him in my mind in the middle of a third set of a tough tennis match. I have seen him when I have contemplated taking it easy on my team at practice beacuse I might not be feeling well. I have even thought about Kyle when I have done some very tedious tasks around the house. I have thought about him in moments of crisis. In all of these instances, I have asked myself "Would Kyle give up here? Would he try to find an easier way out?"
Kyle Maynard in action on the wrestling mat
That's inspiration. Sometimes you might pass by somebody that have some physical disability thinking that he is inefrior or something like that. But you will be deadly wrong! I think and I truely believe that everybody has his own mission on this Earth. I think that people like Kyle have the mission to show all of us that there are NO EXCUSES! It does not come up to what you are going through, how big your obstacles are, how tired you feel or you name it...it is all inside of you! If your truely want it, you will have it!
I see people all the time making some assumptions.
When they see somebody that is not like them, they claim him to be different! But who has the right to say somebody is different? When a person does not fit in the common comprehension that doesn't mean he is different...he is just unique! As Kyle says:
" I look everyone straight in the eye, as an equal, as God created all of us. We are all created uniquely, but we are all eequally precious in God's eyes. That's something I believe in my heart, that my faith and my family taught me over and over again."
In his first years after he was born, Kyle's family took great care of him. His mom and grandmother did everything for him, they fed him, put his clothes on and so on... His father noticed how his son was becoming dependant on them, and how he could not do things by himself and that is when he decided he was going to take the things under control. He was certain that Kyle could use a prosthetic spoon to eat or use his arms to pick up types of foods that did not require silverware. So he reached the point where he demanded that everyone stop feeding him.
What Kyle says about it all is that he treated the prosthetic device with a spoon the way people treat training wheels on a bike, and hoped that it wouldn't be necessary forever. What a will? And he was still so young! But it is obvious that age doesn't matter!
You either have the drive, or you don't!
And as you can guess Kyle wasn't alone during his journey. He had a loving family that helped him. He tells about a story when he was little and he started noticing how people stared at him. He went home and said:
" Grandma, why am I different from other kids?"
"God made you special, and it's ok to be different. No two people are ever going to be exactly the same,", she answered."Why would you wonder such a thing anyway?" . She continued " You are perfectly normal. God loves you just as He loves everyone else. The next time you see someone who looks at you funny or someone you want to talk to, just say "Hi, I am Kyle", and I promise you they won't ever be afraid to talk to you again".
WHat Kyle says now about the way people used to treat him is:
"I know there are many people who, whether they admit it or not, view disabled people as inferior. We are "broken" in their eyes- we are of no use, no value, and we re just running out the string on life. But I believe that we are all disabled in one way or another-including disability of character and personality. My disability just happens to be more visual than some!'
What do you think? A remarkable quote! He is so damn right! As I've read in a book(but I can't remember which one) the auther said how strange it is...
on the outside people seem nice and whole but inside some of them are broken and rotten!
What I think is that no matter how you look on the outside, no metter what happen to you...we all have some ability, and because of that there are no disabilities. Everybody has something that he can give to others-something he can show them, or teach them or just be an example by living a worthy life!
By the way here is his
website you can check it out!
