Full Life

Last night while clearing some old newspaper, I came across this article:
Giving myself a makeover

Writer talked about a man struck twice by catastrophic accidents - reinvent himself.
Jim MacLaren is his name.
At age 22, he met w a motorbike accident & ended up w one leg amputated.
He didnt let that get him down.
Fitted w a false leg, he continue participating in sports that even most normal people like us find it tough to complete - swim 4km, run 42km & cycle 112km.
Not wonder he was known as Ironman athlete.

But God put him thru another test @ the age of 30.
While he was cycling in an Ironman race, he was hit by a van driven by an old man going in the wrong direction.

This time, he paralysed from the neck down.
MacLaren could have chosen to retreat into self-pity after he became a quadriplegic, he didnt. He didnt waste his time getting angry w other people if they either studiously avoided looking @ him or stared rudely @ him.

6 mths after he broke his neck, he was living on his own in an apartment & plotting how to reinvent himself to get on w the business of productive living.

Now he had set up a charity foundation, become a motivational speaker.

As he said: "What is a full life? Do I have to get there on foot? Or can I find some other path?"

For most of us (me especially) always complaining life is tough. But really, is life really that tough or we simply surrender w/o putting up a good fight? For me, I know my ans is the latter.

Article from ST 7 Sep 05 - Writer Keng Fatt