Last week, I was standing in line at Bank of America waiting to be called, when I noticed a man. He had no hands or shall I say he had limbs for hands. Anyway, this man had just seen the teller. He was making a transaction when the teller gave him his money. He moved to the side and began counting, organizing, distributing and folding his money (all with no hands). He did this multi-tasking effortlessly. He looked to be about in his mid 60s. Apparently, he had been doing this for awhile over the years. He never noticed me watching him. I was amazed to see this man doing these tasks. He distributed the money (I guess) according to what it was going to be used for. He organized it in separate piles. He put them in different envelopes and left the bank. I stood there still amazed; thinking how many of us (people) with hands, find it so difficult to do minute tasks (when this man does them with no hands). I began thinking of how capable people make excuses for not progressing. We make excuses as to why we can't dream. Why we can't follow goals. Why we can't do this.....Why we can't do that. I began thinking of other people like this man, without hands, without feet, without arms, without a voice, without sight.....How they excel and refuse to make excuses for their condition. I thought about how they do not use their conditions as a crutch for failure.
As I walked to my car contemplating the "normal" human, those of us with hands, arms, legs, voice and sight, how handi-capped we are by complacency and laziness and F.E.A.R (False Expectations Appearing Real). Then the thought of Ray Charles and his movie entered my thoughts. I remember the scene where he was cooking. He was frying chicken, and I thought to myself; "How does he know when it is done?" He cooked effortlessly. He lived vibrantly, even during his struggles...He never used his "physical" condition as a crutch.
I thought about the fear, these individuals must face. The fear they refuse let get the best of them. The fear of not being seen as "equal" to their peers. How fierce they are in defying the odds of other people's expectations. I left the bank that day, feeling like "they" those with debilitating conditions could teach us "regular", "normal" people a thing or two about living and dreaming. They could most definitely teach us a thing about how to stop making excuses for failing.
