Every day we get to decide how to view our world. We decide how to view ourselves. What focus we decide to take has profound implications on our well-being. A couple days ago I read a story about a young women named Marin Morrison. At 14 she was diagnosed with brain cancer and was told she had only 4-6 months to live. She was close to an olympic caliber swimmer at the time. Despite her illness, her focus didn’t change…she still held on to her olympic dreams. Three years later, she is going to be competing at the Paralympics in Beijing. Here is an excerpt from the article:
The pursuit, the training, the opportunity to be an Olympian — all of it, for Marin, has been lifesaving.
“When she’s in the pool, it’s like she’s not sick,” Nancy Morrison said. “She pops up from the water, and there’s this big smile on her face. She’s happy. She’s comfortable. It’s like all of this is gone and it’s just swimming. She has very serious cancer and a lot of people in her situation wake up wondering if they’re going to live.
“Their whole focus is the illness. But every day for Marin, instead of waking up and thinking, ‘I’m really sick,’ her focus is, ‘I’ve got to get to the pool to get ready for my next race.’ She still has that drive and willingness to work hard at something.”
Marin Morrison is extraordinary, not because she has cancer, but because she has life. She is a one-person celebration of the indomitability of the human spirit. She isn’t defined by what she has overcome, but by the remarkably incandescent way she lives.
“She is truly my hero,” her mother said. “There’s never a moment when she’s angry. She’s never once asked, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ She amazes me. She’s an inspiration and she’s inspiring a lot of those other Olympians out there with her drive.”
Remember…you decide how you want to define yourself. Read the article…I hope it will help brighten your day a little bit.
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