Welcome to word-of-the-week on another Monday at Bouncing Back.
Today’s word is …
STRENGTH
I don’t normally associate paralysis with strength.
When I recall twenty-two years of adjusting to life in a wheelchair, it’s as though I’m programmed to greet difficult circumstances with: I’ll never be able to …
A wise physical therapist named Leonard once encouraged me to look at my circumstances from a different perspective. As I complained endlessly about the tasks I couldn’t accomplish with my damaged body, he sat beside me and drew this diagram. Seeing the confused look on my face, he explained.
“Look, you need to make a decision. Before your accident you could do ten thousand things, and now you can only do eight thousand. It’s horrible, and it’s not fair. But now you get to choose. You can spend the rest of your life griping about the two thousand things you lost, or you can focus on the eight thousand that remain.”
I’m not a fan of Pollyanna, and I don’t advocate denial or naïve blindness to challenges. Understanding and grieving the loss of the 2000 is necessary and important.
But as I’ve worked with Leonard’s 8000/2000 principle, I’ve come to understand that it really applies to everyone. Every individual has strengths and weaknesses. The key to success involves capitalizing on strengths and discovering ways to compensate for weaknesses.
We move forward only when we turn our attention to the promise and possibility of the 8000. It’s a principle I call realistic optimism: acknowledging challenge while focusing on opportunity.
Don’t allow what you can’t do to interfere with what you can do. John Wooden
What are the strengths with which God has blessed you? How can you capitalize on them as you move into this new week?
Monday is usually my day to specifically request your help in spreading the word about this site. But today I just want to thank you for visiting and being a valued part of this slowly expanding circle. You are the best.
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Great post! The therapist you had was really wise, I couldn't agree with him (and you) more!
I can relate because I spent a few years after the accident in the "self-pity-mode". I've been in the wheelchair now for almost 35 years. By God's grace and with His help, I went to college, and I've done 10 years of missionary work in Russia. Now I'm serving in my local church.
It really is amazing what we (and God) can do when we look for possibilities instead of im-possibilities. We are not accidents!
Thank you Rich for pointing this out to me, normally i do focus on what i can do rather than what i can't do, but today i feel a negativity hanging over me. Just a little slip that prayers won't put right..
I understand–Backsliding is one of my “strengths”
Great post, Rich. While I was born with a disability and didn't lose abilities due to an accident after having them for awhile, I struggled with comparing myself to my able bodied friends. I was quick to point out to myself that I can't do everything like "normal" people. Then a Christian counselor of mine pointed out to me that able bodied or not, not everyone can do everything. So, in actuality, it's quite "normal" to not be able to do everything.
I only know of one unlimited person who ever lived, and He accepted the role of humble servant for my sake. The rest of us–disabled or not–are defective!
Great story. Your physiotherapist was incredibly wise. Love the concept of the 2,000 or the 8,000.
Powerful stuff!
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