Adversity isn't an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life. It's part of our life.
Interpretation
Adversity is an integral part of life that we must accept rather than avoid.
This quote by Aimee Mullins highlights the idea that challenges and hardships are not mere obstacles to be overcome, but rather essential components of our life experience. Instead of seeing adversity as something negative that we must circumvent to live fully, we should embrace it as a valuable part of our journey that can foster growth and resilience.
In practice
During a motivational speech to explain how challenges shape character.
I'm not an advocate for disability issues. Human issues are what interest me. You can't possibly speak for a diverse group of people. I don't know what it's like to be an arm amputee, or have even one flesh-and-bone leg, or to have cerebral palsy.
I've had journalists asking me, 'What do we call you - is it handicapped, are you disabled, physically challenged?' I said, 'Well hopefully you could just call me Aimee. But if you have to describe it, I'm a bilateral below-the-knee amputee.'
An athlete experiences the emotions of pain and elation through triumph and defeat, through teamwork and individuality, as nothing more than a human being...that is the true glory of sport.
I think that everyone has something about themselves that they feel is their weakness... their 'disability.' And I'm certain we all have one, because I think of a disability as being anything which undermines our belief and confidence in our own abilities.
I have learned not to overlook the advantages of being me. From when I was a softball player, and I held the stolen bases record. I would slide into second with my prostheses, and the girl on the base could either step aside or meet two wooden sticks.
In sports, I refused to do any interviews that were just going to become human-interest stories. Don't turn me into a tragic heroine.
I feel like young girls are told, I donβt know, that they have to be this kind of princess and fragile. Itβs bullshit. I identify much more with being a warrior, a fighter. If I was going to be a princess Iβd be a warrior princess definitely.
The question is no longer between violence and non-violence it is between non-violence and non-existence.
The times when black women have been successful in confronting and overcoming the structural and institutional sexism and racism that persists in our society have been when we are thoughtful and strategic about speaking up. It's when we've done what it takes to introduce and implement our ideas and our plans to make things better.
The cause doesn't have to be righteous and battle doesn't have to be winnable; but over and over again throughout history, men have chosen to die in battle with their friends rather than to flee on their own and survive.
Effort and pain may not be avoided. Physical and psychological breakdowns occur. The support of a like-minded group, dedicated to The Art of Suffering, provides a safety net. An individual will push harder and risk more in the company of trustworthy peers.
At 13, I was fearless. I looked at everything so positive. When you're older and been through it all, you know how bad it can get. There is a fear of failing.
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