I love learning about people who have blown away their limits and their life path makes me question my internalGPS®. I discovered Russel Redenbaugh via this article, “True Grit, Blinded and Gifted” in Forbes magazine (linked) and then watched this TED talk to hear his story from the stage. It shook me up.
Russel Redenbaugh went from being a “mediocre at best” (his own description) 16-year old to a very successful adult after a tragic accident with a model rocket that could have killed him and left him blinded and losing half his fingers and part of thumb. He declared, while still in the hospital after many surgeries, that he would never be dependent on his parents nor poor.
Here is one of Russel’s quotes, more powerful by the fact that he was describing what he learned from being a jujitsu champion (with sited, non-disabled opponents):
“What is important is that living with the conviction that opportunities will appear and that your opponents or your life will give you opportunity. What you need to do is to prepare, prepare, practice and practice. Opportunities favor those that are prepared in mind and body and courage, the courage to act….The courage to be larger than your fears the courage to be larger than your circumstances imposed on you by others or by yourself because you can make those boundaries come true if you believe in them.”
Please take the 18-minutes to watch the TED talk, and then ask yourself: What path have you avoided due to a limit from others or a self imposed limit? What action will you take to go there?