Limits

“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.” 
 

 That is a quote from my favorite book, The Alchemist. I especially like this quote because it refutes the constant lies that we get told every day. Most people see a quote like that and think it’s just a feel good message that doesn’t really apply to them. “That might be true for someone else but not me. Not for someone with my personality/disability/circumstance/illness /Upbringing/ intelligence” These feelings that we have are a result of the false limits that get placed on us on a daily basis.

On more than a few occasions I have had new patients come into my office with some condition or diagnosis that has caused them to just accept a subpar life FILLED with limitations, side effects and problems we have to “manage”.  I don’t blame them either, every time we are given a diagnosis or label we feel limited. We are not offered any hope or a solution, just a label that tells us what we will never be able to do. That doesn’t just go for our health, it goes for everything we do in our lives. If you ever felt like you were not smart enough, not talented enough, not lucky enough, not placed in the right circumstance, or that it just isn’t in the cards for you to chase your dream, or live the life you deserve, you should know that those are lies.

 Some situations might seem different, more extreme than others. For instance, if a young girl was born without legs, it would be reasonable to place limits on her. It would be safe to say that they wouldn’t be the cheerleader doing backflips at the high school sporting events. It would be safe to say that, but you would still be wrong, because a girl named Jennifer Bricker was born without legs and she became a state champion tumbler competing against able bodied competitors. So the next time someone tries to put a limit on your life, tell them to kick rocks (or a more colorful variation of that phrase).

Think about what you want to do in your life and what you feel is holding you back. You can almost always find someone who has been successful in that area with an even worse version of your “limitation”. The human body is awesome, people are awesome, and you can overcome any obstacle you run into. Everyone has something they have to go through and to be honest I needed to type this out probably as much as you needed to read it.