Sunday, July 05, 2015

Weekly Inspiration 7/5: Living Beyond Limits





Amy Purdy, who lost both her legs and her kidneys and spleen to meningitis at 19, starts out this inspiring TED talk with this thought-provoking question:


"If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?"

From there, she describes her own experiences in this emotional, heart-wrenching, funny talk, from her hospital bed to becoming a professional snowboarder and Dancing with the Stars competitor. She focuses on using her imagination to overcome her limits in new and unique ways. Check out her brief but inspiring talk:



Although our situations with ME/CFS are very different than hers, there are plenty of parallels, and her positive, can-do attitude is inspirational.

When I think about her key question, above, my answer is, of course, that I would like a happy ending to my story; I would like to be victorious over my limitations, as she has been.

For me, personally, this comes down to two main strategies that I have taken with my illness and my life:
  • Find joy in every day.
  • Never stop trying to get better - trying new treatments, keeping up on new research, working as I can to strengthen myself and improve my quality of life.
Essentially, I feel it is important to always keep striving for answers and improvements, while also enjoying life right now as well as I can, in light of my current restrictions.

How about you? "If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?"

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