In The Face Of

The other day I was driving down the freeway and saw a billboard that I have seen a few times before. It was a picture of Erik Weihenmayer with the caption "Climbed Everest Blind." Being the emotional creature I am, I got all teary and moved.

I am a sucker for triumphs of the human spirit. This is why I totally dig watching dancers with missing limbs and twisted bodies and Team Hoyt. Bethany Hamilton lost her arm in a shark attack and continued to surf. Helen Keller overcame her mind blowing limitations to become an amazing writer and teacher. We honor Christopher Reeves and Michael J. Fox and Stephen Hawking. It isn't hard to find examples of people that overcome incredible odds by saying, "The hell I can't."

But what about the rest of us? What about those of us that have full use of all our limbs? What about those of us that have functioning bodies with all five senses intact? For us it's just dancing and climbing and running right? Yes we push ourselves to do great things, and oftentimes succeed, but don't really have billboards erected in our honor.

But, what if we could look into the human spirit and catch a glimpse of the hidden miracles that are possible? Every single person on this planet has been injured and crippled in some small, or enormous, way.

How many of us have lost limbs of love and faith and trust? How many of us have been crippled by abuse and betrayal? How many of us have had our minds and hearts mangled nearly beyond recognition and have chosen to overcome and heal and live a full emotional life anyway?

Is having your heart broken by betrayal or your spirit crushed by abuse and then making the conscious choice to continue to love and to be truly alive in the face of that experience any less wondrous than climbing a mountain blind? I don't believe so.

What if we could take a look at our greatest emotional handicaps, our deepest wounds and fears, and choose to act in the face of them anyway? What if we could dig that deep and look with that much courage and overcome with that much determination? What if the world could see the ways in which our hearts and minds have said, "The hell I can't."

What if the world was covered with billboards of everyday human beings that said "Heart was broken. Loved anyway." "Was betrayed. Trusted anyway." "Body and mind were abused. Lived with courage anyway." "Faith was destroyed. Believed anyway."

To me, those reminders of the power of the human spirit would be no less remarkable and moving than the others. Maybe even more so.

Take some time to look inside and make a choice to act in the face of your limitations. Ask yourself, "What will my billboard say?"

See it. And then do it.

I promise you there will be cheering.