The other day I was on the phone with a close friend who has recently moved to Ontario. We had run out of interesting tidbits from our own life but were not ready to hang up the phone and go on with our seperate days. We began reading eachother quotes that we had written on scrap pieces of paper and into our journals, sharing words that had inspired us over the past few weeks. Suddenly my friend began to laugh at the oddity of our conversation. We had just spent atleast 20 minutes in conversation with no words of our own.
But I want to share my favourite quote with you, from the front flap of the book Nothing is Impossible by Christopher Reeves, who recently passed away after years of struggling with paralysis:
"For able bodied people, paralysis is a choice, a choice to live with self doubt and a fear of taking risks -and it is not an acceptable choice!"
I have thought a lot about these words in the past few weeks as I contemplate the choices I have made so far in my life. I wonder how often I have let myself and others down by succumbing to fears that I could have overcome. As I look down at my newborn son my desire is that I can instill in him the ability to take the risks neccessary to fulfill his ambitions. I look at my older boys, who are filled with the excitement and naivity of youth, and I pray that I can teach them to turn their active imaginations and creative talents into achievable goals.
I hope that I can give them the words to pull from when they run out of words of their own. That when they feel paralyzed by fear and self doubt, they can look back on the lessons of their childhood and be propelled forward.
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