My daughter and I watched Unstoppable, which is a documentary about Bethany Hamilton. If you don’t know who she is, she is a professional surfer who got her arm bitten off by a shark.
Bethany had grown up in a surfing family so she’d surfed her entire life. From about eight years old, she knew that she wanted to become a professional surfer. It was her passion.
For about three days after she lost her arm, she was uncertain about her ability to surf again. However, shortly after that, she knew that she would find a way to get back out in the ocean. She had to. It was her life.
Now I don’t know about you but an accident like that probably would’ve broken me. I think water in the tub would even be my enemy at that point.
Seriously, that took a lot of faith, courage, confidence. And that’s what I love about Bethany. She trusted that God gave her that passion for a reason and that is what helped her to believe in her ability to live her dream despite her circumstances.
Most of us have never experienced anything even remotely close to having our arm bitten off by a shark, but we let fear stop us from living our dreams. Yes, Bethany was scared. Yes, she had doubts about her ability to surf with only one arm. Yes, she failed. Over and over again. She’s human. What makes her different from most other humans is that she didn’t let those things stop her.
She kept going. And because of it, she went on to become one of the best professional surfers in the world, winning several titles.
You can do whatever it is you’re passionate about, despite all the things that you think could go wrong. It’s the fear talking. And though all of those things could happen, it won’t be the end of you. It’ll just be something that you tried that didn’t work. So you try it again in a different way. And you keep doing that until it works.
That’s what it means to fail your way to success.
Gabrielle, The Thought Trainer
P.S. Let’s talk about your passion and the fears that are stopping you. I guarantee to get you past them in 3 months or less. Try me.
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