This week marks the beginning of the Rio 2016 Paralympic games.
Over 4,000 athletes will take part in the games, featuring both athletes who were born with disabilities and those who developed problems later in life through accident or illness. This reminded me of a story I read during London 2012.
That was the story of Steve Brown, the captain of the team GB wheelchair rugby team. Steve was in his early twenties in 2005 when he suffered injuries which left him paralysed from the chest down.
He was desolate and angry during his early time in hospital, but eventually the positivity of the people around him, most notably his father, helped him change his reaction to the injury and the new life that lay before him.
In the story he was quoted as follows: ‘You can’t choose the cards you’re dealt. What you can do is make the best of whatever’s in your hand. I’m a competitive sod. I didn’t like to think that anyone else with my injury might have coped better.’
It’s not what changes, but how we react to it, that defines our outcome.
Change is the only constant. Be positive.
