Motivate | Inspire | Empower

I recently saw the movie The Blind Side. What an amazing film! My favourite movies are often based on true stories if not outright documentaries but when they are about football or spots related stories then I’m sure to fall in love.

However The Blind Side is much more then just another football movie. Michael Oher’s journey really touched me. I won’t tell you his story, (please do yourself a favour and go watch this movie), but it really made me realize how lucky I am. People always tell me how inspirational they think I am. I believe a lot of people asume my life has been hard because of the physical obstacles I have dealt with my entire life. Yes I face situations everyday that I’d rather not, people stare, some point, others even laugh at the mere sight of me. I often don’t get the girl and even with all of the things I have accomplished, at the end of the day there are a few things I simply can not do.

But I always knew I was loved, I always had two loving parents at home, I never went to bed hungry, I’ve always had a bed to sleep in for that matter. I have never once put any thought into being able to read or write, finish high school or even goto university. That wasn’t something I ever put much thought into, it simply was just the next expected step. Something everyone I knew did after high school.

I remember once in university I was asked to sit in on a discussion group for the special needs office. Everyone in the room suffered from a learning disability with the exception of myself who has a physical disability. I immediately felt misplaced and felt I had been asked to be part of the wrong group. As I listened though I soon discovered I had been taking my brain for granted and was in essence cheating myself by half-assing my education.

Person after person in this room spoke of their frustration of tackling the material or having the acceptance or understanding of their peers or professors. To these people having the courage to pursue a university degree was the same as my pursuit to be an athlete. The button that can always be pushed within me is to write off that I can’t do something physically. For these people it was to challenge their intellect. From the sounds of their stories they attacked their studies with the same effort and passionate drive as I poured into track and my need to be accepted by able bodied athletes as their peer.

It is amazing what we take for granted.

I can’t explain how frustrating it is to see someone who doesn’t work out or hear someone moan about having to use a treadmill in the winter time. Do you know how much I wish I could just jump on a treadmill or do all the exercises in the gym that I can not physically execute?? But here I was doing the same thing only with my intellect. I was only doing enough in school to get by. I could pick up enough from attending the lectures to just pass the test without reading the assigned material, or I was able to articulate myself well enough in a paper (I many times wrote the night before it was due) still to receive a C or a B grade.

That experience really smacked me in the face and had an effect on me much like this movie now has. I really am very lucky to have grown up the way I did in a loving home with two parents that not only loved me but truly love each other. My mother was sixteen and my father was all of eighteen years old when they got married and against all odds and I’m sure a few naysayers they are only a couple years away from their 40th wedding anniversary. I’ve never heard them have a fight. Whichever one gets home first (often my dad) makes dinner and has a glass of wine poured and waiting upon the others arrival. Growing up I merely assumed everyone’s parents/marriage was like this.

As an adult I’ve sadly discovered this is not the norm but the very lucky exception. For me Michael Oher’s story in addition to having someone recently come into my life who had an unspeakable childhood has really made me take inventory of all that is great about my life and how lucky I am. I can only hope after reading this you will do the same.

Thank you for reading.