Survivors Series 2

Part 2.

Hello, and welcome back to dealtar.com. I’m sorry for this late post. We started a very exciting series two weeks back, uncovering the stories and life lessons from people we refer to as survivors – people who came, saw and conquered despite the odds against them. Today, we will continue in this series by taking on a set of extraordinary people – “people who hoped against hope”. They are athletes who went on to be world champions despite conclusions that had been made concerning them. You will be intrigued.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan has been praised to the skies and is often referred to as the best basketball player of all time. He attributes his success to his many failures because he has claimed they made him try even harder. They certainly did not discourage him. When he was very young, he was not even thought to have a great talent. He was cut from the high school basketball team. He has actually counted his failures and they include 300 lost games and he has missed taking the game winning shot 26 times. Most champions are discouraged and unmotivated by failures but Michael Jordan had the right attitude and regarded them as the recipe for his success.

“I know that fear is an obstacle for some people, but for me it is just an illusion….. Failure always makes me try harder on the next opportunity.” Michael Jordan

Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton grew up in Hawaii so it is not surprising to learn that by the age of 7, she was already able to surf waves. In 2003, a terrible tragedy struck when a shark bit off her left arm. As she recovered, she made two promises to herself. The first was that she would not moan about her terrible misfortune and the second was that she would get back on the surfboard. Another person would have been resigned to failure. But not Bethany Hamilton. After only 26 days, she was surfing again! She is now ranked as among the top 50 female surfers in the world. She also won first prize in the Explorer Women’s Division of the NSSA National Championships.

She overcame many obstacles before becoming successful as a one armed surfer. She had moments of sheer frustration when adjusting to her disability. The accident was instrumental in helping her overcome difficult moments but above all taught her how to defeat her fear in scary moments. She has dedicated much of her life to being a role model for young amputees. She has become an inspiration for many girls going through amputation and adolescence through her Friends of Bethany charity. AnnaSofia Robb and Dennis Quaid have starred in the film Soul Surfer (2011) which was inspired by Bethany’s amazing story.

These stories are meant to encourage us, challenge us and spur us to believe that nothing is impossible for us if we would only believe. Join us next week as we continue this series. Feel free to share with your friends, make your comments, observations and suggestions.

N.B. Stories were curled from; http://www.lifehack.org, http://www.medtronic.com/globalheroes/.