Beauty and Inspiration

I love dance, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I am a pretty consistent viewer of "Dancing with the Stars."  Last night I joined almost everyone in their audience in weeping openly at the most amazing performance.*

The "star" was Amy Purdy.  Amy won bronze in snowboard in the Sochi Paralympics.  She is a double amputee.  You read right.  She lost both legs to bacterial meningitis at 19.  Amy also lost kidney function to the bacterial meningitis, too, and required a kidney transplant. 

And, yes, she did just win a medal in snowboard. (I can't imagine snowboarding with two healthy legs!  EEK!)  If that isn't enough of a head-scratcher.  Think that she is now competing--pretty effectively--in a televised dance competition.  And, if I do the math correctly, she is mid-30s...not ancient by any means, but for a snowboard medallist, pretty impressive.

Amy was ably supported, literally and figuratively, by consistent winning dance pro Derek Hough, as they performed a breathtakingly beautiful contemporary dance.  There wasn't a dry eye in the ballroom...or probably millions of living rooms across the world.  The routine was beautiful and moving, but what an inspiration she was.

For many people, just learning to walk on prosthetic legs as a young adult would be a challenge.  Yet she has mastered movement so completely that she is a successful athletic competitor and now competitive dancer. 

I have to admit that I sat there and said to myself, "Not one more word about not feeling like exercising because you're tired tonight!" I watched and realized that there is nothing I can't do...there is nothing any of us can't do...if we have the will, discipline, and perseverance. 

Last week I was reminded of that by Ernestine "Ernie" Shepherd, a 77-year-old competitive body builder, who didn't begin working out until her mid-50s and didn't begin body building until she was 71!+  Now she gets up at 3 a.m. so that she can train for the marathons that she runs before she goes to her job at the gym teaching fitness classes.  For real!

So whatever excuses we may have for not doing what we want to or should do.  To take a phrase from Nike, "Just do it!" Have the intention and act on it...consistently. We just need to choose what we care about and pursue it with passion.  But it is nice to have inspirations like Amy and Ernie to get us moving.


*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibOlQIojQv0
+https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wXFSczN6Rw