Post: #1

I got no excuses after watching this.





I searched and couldn't find this posted elsewhere.

Post: #2

mentally challenged game recognized.

very heart warming.

Post: #3

Every now and again I'll see something that gives me a better perspective on things, and ups my optimism. Downs Syndrome dude owning a restaurant. I'm sure his family is helping out in a big way, but fuck it, he put himself out there. I watched a MMA fight online with a one armed fighter. He can probably never compete at an elite level, but he's in the gym training, and stepping into the octagon anyway. The OP is absolutely right. No excuses.

Post: #4

Hey, thanks for posting that up. If there is ever a video that can give you motivation and inspiration that was it.

I think this has kick started my new year.

Post: #5

Damn, that dude is one his grind

Post: #6

If you're looking for more reasons to get rid of your excuses, check out "The Badass Project." These are podcasts where the guy interviews people with different disabilities who are doing seriously epic shit considering their limitations (or even not considering them) - the intent is to show mainstream people their excuses are bullshit though.

One of my favorites is the interview of Jon Morrow, an associate editor at Copyblogger who can't move from the neck down. Inspiring interview. Doesn't look like I can embed the video, so you'll need to go check it out on site.

Quote:By most standards, going to work at the office — which also doubles as your residential 8th floor balcony overlooking the ocean in coastal Mexico — is pretty badass. But what makes it even more remarkable is knowing how Jon Morrow arrived there in the first place.

Jon was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease that progressively weakens the body to the point of complete atrophy, and eventual death. For most families, it would be an excuse to throw in the towel and give in before ever giving life a shot. Not for the Morrows.

“I was really lucky to have two incredible parents,” Jon says. “It’s one of the reasons why I’ve survived this disease. But it’s also one of the reasons I’m able to do these things.”

Those things that he refers to are accomplishments that most able-bodied people would not believe possible even for themselves, much less for someone unable to move from the neck down. Things like graduating high school at 16, starting three businesses by 18, graduating college magna cum laude with a 3.9 GPA by 21, and buying and selling millions of dollars in luxury real estate at 22 without ever being able to see the inside of a single property.

Having left real estate behind, today Jon Morrow goes to work in that beachside “office” as Associate Editor of Copyblogger.com, is a creator of a guest blogging course, and licensed his Partnering Profits course to Lateral Action. The key to success for him, he says, and anyone else for that matter, is discovering what’s really important to you, deciding that you’re willing to pay the price, and then fighting for your ideas. Anything else is living a life of disability.

“I would rather die doing what I want to do then die in a nursing home bed somewhere watching TV for 15 hours a day surrounded by other people waiting to die,” he says. “To me that is the scariest thing imaginable.”[...]

http://thebadassproject.com/jon-morrow-entrepreneur/

Another favorite of mine is the interview of Kyle Maynard, a fucking stallion if there ever was one. Guy has no arms and legs and was on of the best wrestlers in the country in his weight class, became a cage fighter, owns a crossfit gym, and has climbed Mount Kiliminjaro.



Here's an ESPN video of him





Nothing much to say after that....

But also check out the Baddass Interview with this guy. Seriously inspiring!

Quote:In his senior year of high school, Kyle Maynard became one of the top 12 wrestlers in the country for his weight class, won 36 varsity wrestling matches, beat several state champions, and had over 120 takedowns on the mat. And, oh yeah. . . he has two arms that end at the elbow and legs that end at the knees.

Born with congenital amputation of the forearms and lower legs, Kyle was raised in a family that refused to treat him any differently. Encouraged to be “normal,” his parents groomed a life for him that included all the benefits offered other children, including athletics. By 6th grade, Kyle was playing football. By high school, he had added wrestling to the mix.

“The cool thing was, my parents kind of looked at me and treated me the way that I learned to treat myself, which is without a disability at all,” he says. “Their biggest point in raising me is they wanted to make me independent and that’s really all anyone can ask for.”

That isn’t to say that success came easily. He lost his first 35 wrestling matches. But he kept a goal of never getting pinned and by his senior year, he’d hit his stride. It’s this type of perseverance that has guided him every step of the way.

“You can buy into the fear, you can buy into the ‘whoa is me, this is all there is to life,’ and frankly, you’ll be in with the majority. [But] I don’t want to be there. I want to be in the group that says ‘I’m going to write my own reality, regardless of what I’m up against.’”

Today, Kyle is much more than the wrestler who made his mark without fully-developed limbs. He’s a MMA fighter, a motivational speaker, an author, an owner of a CrossFit gym in Georgia, and he’s his own man. In refusing to make excuses, Kyle is getting in all that he can, each and every day.

“There’s more that we can get out of this life,” he says. “There’s more that we can get out of all of our goals, whether it’s running a marathon, whether it’s running a business, [or] whether it’s just waking up in the morning and believing [that] what we can do is possible.”[...]

http://thebadassproject.com/kyle-maynard...d-fighter/

Don't just read the excerpts - go to the site and check out the interviews. Really great stuff. You're pretty much free to set down your tampons after seeing what these guys do with their lives.

I downloaded them to my ipod and listen to them while jogging.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #7

You always gotta do one better BB.

JK, great share thanks bro.

Very inspirational stuff.

Post: #8

(01-07-2014 08:21 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  You always gotta do one better BB.

JK, great share thanks bro.

Very inspirational stuff.

haha Sorry bro - too much time on my hands. Great thread.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #9

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #10

I liked this video and wasn't sure where to put it - but I think BB has the right idea - put videos/articles in here that put some things into perspective.

Post: #11

A few days a week I'm assisting an elderly friend who is almost bedridden, in constant pain and hopped up on pain killers. Just getting up to use the toilet is a major task. More than anything, he commented, he'd simply like to go outside and take a walk. I was about to start complaining to him about a minor backache before I realized, "who am I to be whining about a backache to someone who can barely get out of bed."

Count your blessings.

Post: #12

Filipino boy receives scholarship after photograph of him studying on the street goes viral

The photo showed Daniel Cabrera, 9, doing his homework on a wooden stool placed close to a McDonald's window to catch the light from the store

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...viral.html
Partial quote below.

Quote:A homeless Filipino boy has been overwhelmed with aid after a photograph of him studying on the pavement using faint light from a McDonald's outlet went viral on the internet.

Nine-year-old Daniel Cabrera will now be able to fulfil his dream of becoming a policeman after donations of cash, school supplies and a college scholarship poured in, his mother, Christina Espinosa, said on Friday.

"We're overjoyed. I don't know what I will do with all of these blessings," said Ms Espinosa, a 42-year-old grocery store employee and domestic helper. "Now, Daniel will not have to suffer just to finish his studies."

The photograph, posted on Facebook last month by a college student, showed Daniel doing his homework on a wooden stool placed close to a McDonald's window to catch the light from the store.

The 20-year-old medical technology student, Joyce Torrefranca, captioned her Facebook post: "I got inspired by a kid."

Post: #13

I'm more musically-focused. When I come up against something I have issues with, I pull out this Stevie Wonder song, which closes his "Where I'm Coming From" album from 1971.

It's a lot more complicated than his hits -- but arguably better than any of them. It's a song-suite in the tradition of some of the things the Beatles did on "Abbey Road." The difference is that the Beatles had each other, their producer, and their eyesight. Stevie Wonder had none of the above yet created this. Unbelievable.

Post: #14

An inspirational slap in the face. Both the restaurant owner with down syndrome and that homeless pinoy kid.

Quit your bitching, indeed.

Thanks for the refreshing dose of motivation that I needed.

Post: #15

(01-07-2014 07:16 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  Another favorite of mine is the interview of Kyle Maynard, a fucking stallion if there ever was one. Guy has no arms and legs and was on of the best wrestlers in the country in his weight class, became a cage fighter, owns a crossfit gym, and has climbed Mount Kiliminjaro.

He reminds me of Nick Vujicic who is a well known motivational speaker. He was born without arms and legs and still managed to catch a hot wife. It just shows that self confidence and a mission in life is all you need as a man.

Post: #16

Samsamsam requested I put this in here from my other thread (which turns out to be a dupe)





If that little kid ain't bitchin', us grown ass men have have even less excuse.

Post: #17

I'm good-looking, smart, healthy, have enough money to easily survive, but I can't date 8+ girls!!! Wahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Some people have REAL problems. Being in the Philippines helped me see that so much more clearly.

Post: #18

Great thread.

I have a bad tendency of focusing on minor irritants in my life as opposed to being thankful for a million things.

This thread made me recall something that happened to me that I should never forget:

I used to dance salsa a fair bit and one saturday afternoon was at my usual social. Always a casual event where most people knew one another.

So this one particular afternoon, a guy came straight to me with a girl on his arm and said "Hey, dance with her" and literally handed the girl to me. Kinda weird but whatever.

It was halloween weekend and a lot of people were dressed up. She was a petite asian girl wearing huge dark sunglasses. I asked her who she was supposed to be. She didn't answer, maybe she didn't hear over the salsa music.

Anyways, we had a great dance. She was light on her feet and having a blast, smiling away. No attraction on my part, just dancing.

The song ended and we exchanged names. I told her to have fun the rest of the social. She then held my forearm strongly and said 'Can you find me my next dance partner?'

I laughed, kind of confused and said "Ha, dance with whoever you like', to which she responded 'I can't, I'm blind'

Never been more dumbfounded.

I was immediately silenced and beside myself. I had no idea this girl I was dancing with having so much fun was blind.

I couldn't even utter a response before someone luckily rolled in and asked her to dance.

I was choked up for a good 30 minutes, just watching her out there having the time of her life despite the incredible disability. Fairly embarrassing for myself knowing the things I perseverate over.

I've thought a few times of creating a thread just to share this experience but this thread seems like a good place to share.

Always be thankful.

Post: #19

Yesterday I hiked Schneeberg mountain here in Austria, and I saw a one legged guy doing the same. Respect to him big time.