The Opportunity of Adversity

The Opportunity of Adversity: Aimee Mullins
http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_the_opportunity_of_adversity.html
The thesaurus might equate "disabled" with synonyms like "useless" and "mutilated," but ground-breaking runner Aimee Mullins is out to redefine the word. Defying these associations, she shows how adversity -- in her case, being born without shinbones -- actually opens the door for human potential.

Nuggets of Wisdom

Everyone has something rare and powerful to offer society.
The human ability to adapt is our greatest asset.
Adversity is part of our life. Like your shadow, sometimes you see a lot of it, sometimes there is very little but it’s always with us.
The question is not whether you are going to meet adversity but rather how you are going to meet it.
Find the opportunities within the adversities.
It is not the strongest or smartest who survive but those who are the most adaptable.
Conflict is the genesis of creation.
Adversity is just change we haven’t adapted ourselves to yet.
The greatest adversity we have created for ourselves is the idea of normalcy. Who is normal? There is common or typical but normal?
The potential of human will: unless repeatedly told otherwise, and even if given a modicum of support, if left to their own devices, a child will achieve.
All you really need is one person to show you the epiphany of your own power, and you’re off.
If you can hand someone the key to their own power and open a door for someone at a crucial moment, you are educating them in the best sense. You’re teaching them to open doors for themselves.
The exact meaning of the word educate comes from the root word “educe”. It means to bring forth what is within, to bring out potential.
A crushed spirit has no hope.

Every child has known God,
Not the God of names, not the God of don’ts,

But the God who only knows four words
And keeps repeating them, saying:
“Come dance with Me.”Come dance.
Hafiz

Also see:

http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_on_running.html
In this TED archive video from 1998, paralympic sprinter Aimee Mullins talks about her record-setting career as a runner, and about the amazing carbon-fiber prosthetic legs (then a prototype) that helped her cross the finish line.

http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics.html

Athlete, actor and activist Aimee Mullins talks about her prosthetic legs -- she's got a dozen amazing pairs -- and the superpowers they grant her: speed, beauty, an extra 6 inches of height ... Quite simply, she redefines what the body can be.

Looking Past Limits

Looking Past Limits: Caroline Casey

http://www.ted.com/talks/caroline_casey_looking_past_limits.html

Activist Caroline Casey tells the story of her extraordinary life, starting with a revelation (no spoilers). In a talk that challenges perceptions, Casey asks us all to move beyond the limits we may think we have.

Nuggets of Wisdom

Do you love what you do? If not, do something different.

What do you want to be? What did you want to be as a child?

Do something you believe in and believe you can do it. Believe in you, all of you.

Don’t pretend to be someone you are not.

When you make the right decision at the right time, the universe makes it happen for you.

There are no limits to your potential.