Act disabled. That’s what I want you to take away from today’s blog post. How does that advice make you feel?
Compare that feeling to how you would feel If I told you to act like Richard Branson. You’d no doubt have visions of yourself owning cool companies, and taking fabulous vacations.
Do you instinctively feel sorry when your eyes first land on a disabled person? Maybe you shouldn’t Lately, videos of some “disabled” people have been showing up in my Facebook feed.
The twist?
Each of them was performing an act that defies the ability that a particular body part (or two) would have provided them.
Disabled? Hardly!
A 7-year-old American boy, born blind due to a genetic defect, wowed the audience with his voice. Then he made a few people jealous by bragging about his 15-year-old “girlfriend.”
A young woman from Haiti, with no arms, was shown sitting behind another young lady. She combed her friend’s hair, parted it, and proceeded to braid the hair with her toes.
Another young woman was seen walking on the stage of Romania’s Got Talent. Very pretty girl, dressed as if for a recital – but no arms. She then claimed that she was about to sing…and play the piano. She sang a song in English, with barely an accent, and her toes hit the keys with precision.
What’s the Lesson Here?
I’d be lying to say that I’m not scared of one day being disabled, due to a freak accident, or for whatever reason.
In life, there is no shortage of things that you could be scared of, and in some cases, legitimately so. Certain things are COMPLETELY beyond our control: we must simply accept them.
The bigger lesson is that there is FAR more under our own control than the contrary. As our “disabled” performers showed, being born without, or losing, certain body parts, was no match for the fiery desire to accomplish what they wanted.
Ability Everywhere
In a world of continuous learning, we could be tempted to say that we need to learn more of this, or get more of that, before we can accomplish something.
That’s garbage.
We happen to live in a connected world. If even if it’s true that you don’t know how to do something, or can’t possibly do it yourself, you can access someone with that knowledge.
Try seeing yourself as those disabled people saw themselves, and maybe you will start recognizing all that you are able to accomplished.