Skip to main content

As long as you believe you can do things, they’re not impossible

Once, a young school boy was caught in a fire accident in his school and was assumed that he would not live. His mother was told that he was sure to die, for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body. Even if he were to survive, he would be a cripple throughout his life.
But the brave boy did not want to die nor did he want to be a cripple. Much to be the amazement of the doctor, he did survive. But unfortunately from his waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just dangled there, lifeless. Ultimately he was discharged from the hospital. But his determination to walk was indomitable. At home, when he was not in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One day, he threw himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He reached the picket fence, raised himself up and then stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, his resolve to walk undeterred. He did this every day, with faith in himself that he would be able to walk unaided. With his iron persistence and his resolute determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk haltingly, then to walk by himself and then to run.
He began to walk to school, then run to school, to run for the sheer joy of running. Later in college he made the track team.

In February 1934, in New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run – this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world’s fastest mile.





An epitome of the power of positive thinking and faith in one’s self, Glenn Cunningham continues to be an inspiration for many, and his story, a brilliant testimony to how one can bounce back even when all odds are stacked against one, to the extent that death seemed the preferable option.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hard work & Dedication with patience can do the Miracle

Mustafa grew up in a remote village in Wayanad district of Kerala which had neither electricity nor roads. His family lived on the meagre earnings of his father who stopped studying after Class 4 and worked as a coolie on a coffee plantation. He is the eldest and have three younger sisters. His mother Fathima never went to school. He was poor in studies and failed in Class VI, this failure make him totally uninterested in going to school.   But he knows the reality, if he doesn’t study he has to work with his father in farm as colie, which  struck him. He decided to went back to school. From then with his hard work soon he became the good student and stood first in the school in Class 10. But as he is from a weak financial background, to support his further study his father don’t have money. He got admission at the Farooq College in Kozhikode where one of his father's friend, arranged for a free meal scheme in the college charity hostel as he could not afford to pay. Nat

Your ability to fight back will decide your destiny

A 24 year old girl traveling on the general compartment of the Padmavat Express on the way to Delhi to get her date of birth to rectify on call letter. Being a single female traveller, criminals/thug who are already in the train thought her as an easy prey, gathered around her and started pulling the gold chain which is gifted by her mother on that day only. As she refused to hand the chain over, they started coming at the girl one at a time. She kicked punched and fought as best as she could. For a brief moment, it even seems that the girl had the upper hand. The compartment was full of people, but no one came to rescue of a girl being robbed and attacked. Since they couldn’t take her on one at a time, each grabbed a limb and hauled her out of the train. The force threw her onto the opposite tracks and what happened thereafter took a matter of seconds. Before she could move her left leg off the track, a train went over it.  After this 49 trains had passed over that girl, as

I am strong and life will never get me down, because the harder I fall, the higher I bounce

She started her career 30 years ago as an entrepreneur, selling eateries from a mobile cart on the Marina beach amidst all odds — battling a failed marriage, coping with her husband, a multiple addict, and taking care of two kids. Meet Patricia Narayan – Director, Sandeepha Chain of Restaurants based in a city that simply adores food, Chennai. Whatever happened in Patricia’s life which led to her entry into the world of entrepreneurship was evidently not a planned one but was more due to the twist in circumstances that life threw before her. Instead of cribbing and living in problem she successfully transformed her life into a more meaningful and inspirational tale for the world to look back a t. Patricia Thomas was only 17 when she married Narayan, a Hindu Brahmin boy, against the wishes of her conservative Christian family .  After marriage, they have disconnected from their family. Hence, Patricia moved into a rented house in Anna Nagar with his husband, only to realis

Success comes to those who dedicate everything to their passion in life

Most people get interested in what they like, but only few of them make real commitment. The difference between interest and commitment is the will not to give up. When you truly commit to something, you have no alternative but success. Getting interested will get you started, but commitment gets you to the finish line. We know SRK as a man of struggle with a career line only going upwards. However, most of us don’t aware of the reality. He is not the one who only saw failure but poverty too, especially after his parents’ demise. While he is in his mid-teens His father died because of cancer. After that his mother took care of him until her own death in 1990. SRK is more passionate about making his career in acting. He got his first acting break with the 1988 television show ‘Dil Dariya’ which was the directorial venture of Lekh Tandon. This show’s launch was delayed due to a few production problems and was released eventually. In 1989, another series named ‘Fauji’ which fe

A story of attitude, determination and great commitment

It is the story of an 18-year-old teenager, who loved cricket. An act, which stunned not just his teammates but also the opposition team. It was year 2006 and Karnataka scored 446 in their first innings at Feroz Shah Kotla ground. It was a cold and difficult day for the Delhi Ranji team. They lost 5 wickets chasing Karnataka’s massive first innings total. With half of the side back in the pavilion on the 2nd day itself, it was an uphill task for Delhi team to save the follow-on. The 18-year-old walked out and along with wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht helped reach Delhi 103 at the end of the day’s play, without losing another wicket. This youngster stood solid and unbeaten at 40, but Delhi still needed to go a long way with the last recognized pair in the middle. But in the night his world turned upside down. His father, just 54-years-old, passed away leaving him with an awful choice – whether to cremate his father or to go and finish his innings for Delhi. The news of his fa

It is the power of responsibility that a man transforms wasteland into the dense forest

Floods come with untold suffering and immense miseries to the people. Their belongings are washed away. Houses collapse and people are rendered homeless. Many men, women, children and cattle are swept away by the current of the river. Floods destroy crops standing in the fields and cause famine. They also cause epidemics. Many people lose their resources and tools and thus lose their occupation. It is a very pitiable sight to see cattle being washed away by the current of the river during the floods. But the most scary & nasty scene appears, when  waters all around  receded, reptiles which came with water at the time of floods, now starts dying in absence of their shelter. A little more than 30 years ago, way back in 1979 in Assam, floods washed a large number of reptiles ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters had receded, a 16 year old teenager named Jadav "Molai" Payeng found the place dotted with the dead reptiles all over. The snakes died because of

Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that count

It was 4th and final test match at Sialkot in   Pakistan in 1989.   After India fought intensely first three Tests, all ending in draws, Pakistan were desperate to win the fourth and final game. Pakistan were hell-bent on winning the final Test and the series. A green fast  and bouncy wicket was prepared to favor their fast bowlers. Giant like Wasim  Akram, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis making the fast attack even more powerful , sharp and destroyer to the opposition team batsman. Its the 2 nd Inning of India,  R J Shastri & NS Siddhu on the pitch analyzing and thinking how to come out of this scary situation where they have to face best fast attack in world cricket.  India in no time were 38/3, savers of the previous matches already made their way to pavilion. Sidhu facing waqar Younis left a ball to which Ravi Shastri come and said “very well left” but Sidhu responded he couldn’t even see the ball. On the very next over, one fast ball from Wasim Akram  hit the pad of Ravi

The millionaires fastlane : M. J. DeMarco

What is wealth Many people make the mistake that they confuse money with wealth.  But what is wealth? It is easier to become wealthy if you understand  what it means to you,  wealth is nothing but a mixture of health, relevant relationships,  and freedom. Would you consider a person who is in bad shape, lonely and rolling in money a wealthy person?  Having money will not help you in finding good relationships, nor will  it help you to get fit. You can utilize money to gain more freedom because you do not have  to sell your time anymore. If you have money, you own your time. And  owning your time will allow you to exercise and go to parties to find a  life partner. So, money is a means to an end. If you have enough of it, you will have  location independence and are free to use your time to your heart’s  content. Barriers to become wealthy A good education costs a lot of money and will probably put you or your parents in debt. You learn a lot, but most of the k

Never Give up, because its never too late to start

At the age of sixty nine when everyone is thinking to retire not from the job but from the life as well, he gives life’s one more try, he came to America with 7 dollars in hand, knowing no one, with absolutely no visible means of support, no friends, no followers there, not his youth, not good health (survival of two times heart attack) or even not a clear idea of how he would accomplish his far-reaching objective to present the spiritual knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita to the entire world. Only one thing is clear in his mind that is his ultimate goal, which is to establish an International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which will be open for anyone including women. After almost a year of great difficulty . He established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in July of 1966. Before his passing away on November 14, 1977, he guided the Society and saw it grow to a worldwide confederation of more than one hundred ashrams, schools, temples, institutes and farm