A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles“.
– Christpher Reeve, Superman
Christopher Reeve.
Many know of him as a super hero. And of course this is true. He IS the original Superman. And then there is the fall. Yes, a literal fall from a horse while playing in a polo tournament.
Christoper Reeve went from superman to paralyzed from the neck down in a matter of minutes.
Christopher Reeve went from everyone’s superhero to someone who required assistance to breath (via machines), eat, bathe, get dressed, empty his bowels, empty his bladder, wash his face, and brush his teeth.
Needless to say, the original Superman was presented with what some might perceive as a hopeless situation.
However, to say he was “hopeless”, would be wrong.
While sitting in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the neck down, attached to a machine to help him breath, he managed to give us a glimpse into his response to an arguably hopeless set of circumstances……
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles“.
So, how did he do it? You know, “endure and persevere” in spite of an accident that left him permanently physically disabled?
Hope.
Hope is believing that there is something better to come in the future.
Hope is believing without seeing.
Hope IS the life-blood of a life well-lived.
Hope is not denying the reality of the situation.
Hope is not ignoring the sadness, anger, and resentment that can accompany obstacles.
Hope says, one more day.
Paralyzed from the neck down, Christopher Reeve spent nearly a decade devoting his time, talents, and money to spinal cord injury research and giving hope to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
In The Obstacle Is The Way, Ryan Holiday writes “We forget: In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given.”
Christopher Reeve accepted his “obstacle” and he did something that mattered.
Life has a way of not giving us what we want, but sometimes what we need.
And therein lies the question.
How can you and I use what happens to us in a way that matters?