Riding to Win

Day# 511

 

Hello!
As Todd listened to his children cheering for their favorite racer, he remembered his own boyhood...and the obstacles he faced.
A boy with brothers has a life filled with competition and injury in the best of families. Todd had a couple of extra obstacles to overcome. Todd is deaf and has cerebral palsy. When his brothers began riding and racing motorcycles, it seemed natural that the youngster would want to join them! One big problem, his legs were too weak to walk, much less hold up a motorcycle. Many wondered how a young boy like Todd could even dream about racing motorcycles. Well, Todd's father didn't just let his boy dream about motorcycles; he made sure the boy could ride just like the others. He bought an all-terrain vehicle, adapted it to Todd's unique needs, and let him go! His father truly believed the young boy should have his own chance to ride in the wind!
The ATV strengthened Todd%u2019s legs to such a degree that after a special surgery to straighten his ankles, he was able to walk!
Soon after he began walking on his own, his strength improved, and his riding skills increased so he not only raced against his brothers -- he began BEATING them! Winning is sweet but beating a brother is the sweetest win imaginable.
Todd shook his head to bring himself back to the race in front of him.
Smiling with his own boys at his side, Todd loved what he was seeing. Riders of all ages whizzed by them. Watching his kids, he felt satisfied that he was successfully making a difference; he was providing racing opportunities for people both able bodied and disabled. His organization Ability Riders of Tomorrow - encourages people with "disabilities to test their boundaries and provides equipment and financial assistance to disabled ATV riders and racers. It's all about giving people with disabilities the opportunities to experience ATVs. Riding can give you freedom that maybe your body can't."
Todd says now that he is older and married it is not just about winning any longer. It is about "trying." I will run in a 5K race just to help others learn not to let someone define who they are and to not let anyone or anything keep them from success."
Todd takes his message to schools encouraging young people to do their best and to try!  His simple message allows anyone to relate, whether a spectator, motorcycle racer, able or otherwise: "Life is what you make it."
Whether or not someone's body functions adequately does not determine the dimensions of their dreams. What most of us need are opportunities to attempt different activities. Then to take those activities we enjoy and enjoy them further. Isn't that true? So much of our life's success is not about what happens to us... it is what we do with whatever happens. I love Todd's attitude of making life happen.
I want to be like Todd and do what looks like can't be done. I bet you too have big dreams and even bigger abilities. Together let's join forces to provide opportunities for others around us. We can make many things happen if we work together.
Remember Todd who was born with obstacles yet never let that stop him from riding full speed into life!
Just as Todd's father believed in his little boy's dreams of racing his brothers, you have several people rooting for you! You are not living this life alone because%u2026

And I do, too!

Suess Karlsson
P.S. If you need to be reminded today just how very special you are go to A Movie Just For You!

If someone has forwarded this to you, and you would like to find out about having your own SBIY membership, please go to www.SomeoneBelievesInYou.com

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101 Ways to Change The World

A free Ebook published by the Together We Can Change The World Inc outlines 101 Ways to Change the World. Here is a selection:

1) Spend an afternoon with someone you know is lonely.
You don’t have to make it just once. Lonely people
are in need of friendship. Decide to drop by every
week. Send them notes. Become a lifeline for just
that one person.

2) Look around and find a kid who needs to know they matter – there are
way too many of them. Now determine to make that kid know someone
believes they are special. Send them a card or note every week (at
least). If you know what they are interested in, send them articles
about it. Send them stories that will build their self-confidence and
inspire them to be all they can be. Let them know you CARE.

3) If you have flowers in your garden, share them with
someone else. Take a bunch to an elderly neighbor
who can no longer garden. Take some to a friend going
through a hard time. Drop them off at a neighbor’s
house “just because”.

4) If you provide some kind of professional service, offer it for FREE once
a week to someone who needs it. Free dental cleaning; Free house
cleaning; Free meal at your restaurant; Free accounting service. Let
your profession also be your way of giving.

Download your own free copy of the Ebook from TWCCTW Ebooks section at Someone Believes In You.

How to change the world one person at a time

Someone Believes in You is an organisation that empowers people by sending teenagers and adults one email a day to encourage and empower them. By doing this people who are going through a difficult time will find that someone believes in them to send encouraging emails.

Here is a sample of an email that is sent out.

SHARK ATTACK!

How much courage does it take to follow your passion? Ask Bethany Hamilton…

Bethany, who lives in Hawaii, was in grade school when she started her quest to become a professional surfboarder. Surfing is her passion. She spent every available minute in the water, even homeschooling so she would have more time to pursue her goal. When she was 8 years old she entered her first major competition – eventually taking the division championships that year. This girl obviously had what it took.

It was almost all taken away from her on Halloween morning, 2003. Bethany was 13 years old. She was surfing with her best friend, Alana, and Alana’s brother and father. The waters were calm, not good for surfing, so Bethany was just lying on her board, her left arm dangling in the cool water.

She remembers a flash of gray, a lot of pressure, and a couple fast tugs. She also remembers watching the jaws of a 15-foot tiger shark cover the top of her board and her left arm. She watched in shock as the water around her turned bright red.

The shark was gone as fast as it appeared. So was her arm – bitten off almost to the armpit.

Bethany was horrified but not in pain at that point. She yelled to her friends and their father, Holt. “I just got attacked by a shark!”

It was a combination of miracles that saved Bethany at that point. High tide allowed them to make it over the reef without going around. Holt knew enough to wrap his shirt around the wound to act as a tourniquet while they paddled the quarter-mile to shore. While Bethany drifted in and out of consciousness, a nearby vacationer who was a paramedic rushed to help her.

Surgery saved her life but her arm was gone for good, and everyone, Bethany included, thought her surfing days were over. Balance is everything when surfing. How could she balance with only 1 arm?

Within a week, spurred by her passion for surfing, Bethany was thinking something different. I can do it. I know I can do it! She wasn’t ready to give up what she loved so much, but it would take time for her body to heal.

There was a huge outpouring of love and support from Hawaiians and people all over the world. Love, food, flowers, cards, money… Bethany gathered hope and courage from the waves of love aimed toward her.

It was only a few weeks later – the morning before Thanksgiving – Bethany headed back for the water. Her love of surfing wouldn’t let her wait any longer. Her family and friends were there to cheer her on when she stepped into the warm water for the first time since the attack. It was like coming home.

Bethany smiled and waved, then jumped on her board to paddle out – pushing down the fear of what might be waiting under the water. She knew too well…

She failed at her first attempts to ride the board, struggling to push herself up with one arm and keep her balance. Tears rolled down her face, and the crowds cheered when she caught her first wave and rode it in. Bethany was back

Really back. Only months after her vicious incident, Bethany amazed thousands by achieving the unimaginable, including taking 5th at the 2004 National Scholastic Surfing Association Nationals Championships. In September she struck again, winning the Open Women's Division of the NSSA's Hawaiian conference season opener. After her placing in the finals of the National Surfing Championships Bethany has secured a spot on USA's National Surfing Team.

Ask Bethany if she is afraid of sharks and she’ll say yes. Her heart pounds when she sees a shadow in the water. She has nightmares. But she also has a dream, and moving beyond her fears is the only way to accomplish her dreams – the only way to fulfill the passion she has for surfing.

Is there a fear keeping you from following your passion? I would encourage you to do what Bethany has done. Stare it in the face, acknowledge you are afraid, then go out and do it anyway!!

I know you can do it.

Because…

SOMEONE BELIEVES IN YOU!!

And so do I!

Ginny Dye

P.S. If you need to be reminded today just how very special you are go to: SomeoneBelievesInYou and watch the A Movie Just For You!

And if you want to know more about what this is all about, just go to SomeoneBelievesInYou.

Stories like these will go to your recipient on a daily basis. Someone asked me to share a list of people they could purchase a membership for. I personally think every living being could benefit from this, but I'll give you what is most certainly only a partial list:

- Spouse- Friend

- Child - Grandchild

- Child's Friends - Neighbor

- Co-worker - Teacher

- Pastor - Someone on your MPM Team

Do I really think everyone should have this? Yes, I really do. I'm the most positive, driven person I know and writing these stories does so much for me. Learning about these people and hearing their stories is a constant inspiration and challenge for me to live the best life I possibly can. The best thing you can do for anyone is to empower them to live their best life. That's what SomeoneBelievesInYou is all about!