Carrying the World on his Back

​“I try to make sense of things. Which is why, I guess, I believe in destiny. There must be a reason that I am as I am. There must be.” Robin Williams

​In this idea that “Imperfection is Human”, I wanted to share stories of individuals being human. The ideas or actions that we may believe to be mistakes are ironically the things that make us most incredible. It may be an act of mistake that you feel ashamed of, or an event that just happened to you that can make you feel less worthy.

Whatever it may be, to tell that story to another person can be the perfect source of power or motivation that others may need. As I go through life, I continually dwell in the belief that “God doesn’t make any mistakes.”​
 
Meet Andy, a 5’6” (1.68m) young man that defined his life by his successes in athletics. He defined odds in sports by succeeding in an event that was designed to see how well you handled barriers, the 110m hurdles. For an event that suited well for individuals at a taller height, Andy negated the common belief and redefined school records and state qualifications during his youth years.
 
Andy did so well that it granted him a scholarship to several universities around the nation. That is a great feeling for anyone putting in constant hard work just to achieve something they believed in. For track & field athletes, to be told you are worthy to compete at the collegiate level gives you a great boost in confidence, so much that you set your eyes on higher levels like the Olympic Games or even just compete as a professional.
 
As athletes and even humans, when momentum is defined by success, the belief that nothing can stop us sounds loudly as we push ourselves to incredible heights. That is, until something does stop us.
 
During the growth years, Andy developed scoliosis, a severe curvature of the spine. We’ve heard of minor versions of the condition from people around us, and even celebrities mention having it. Usain Bolt was known to battle with the condition throughout his career.
 
However, very few are attacked so severely that surgery is needed, and Andy was one of those. If surgery wasn’t done, he would lose function in his organs and be forced to disability for the rest of his life, however long that would have been.
 
Andy had to undergo a spinal fusion, essentially mending the vertebrae into one single bone so to stop any further curving. The spine’s function is to rotate so that dynamic movement can occur for the body. Andy had to disable about 80% of that structure, leaving him with 20% left to be active.
 
For many, life as we had planned, can be extremely derailed. But it is just that, life as we had “planned”. Life has a funny way of directing you to a place or direction where you are needed most, for others or even yourself. What we may see as shame and life-ending, can and will always be turned into something that is uplifting for others, if and only if, we are willing to accept it as purpose and growth.
 
The desire to compete and be the best athlete Andy could be, did not leave him. Despite what happened to him, he continues to push himself through the hardship. That may be the simplified version of what he’s going through, because he still battles with numerous struggles as a result from the surgery. Everyday he battles with figuring out if he’s on the right path or figuring out why something like this could happen to him. But there is a love that sits in his heart that he chooses to follow, and unknowingly, he becomes a symbol of motivation for those who meet him.
 
All Andy wanted to do was run fast. I don’t think he grew up thinking he wanted to be a form of motivation. What happened to him could have left him “disabled”, but his choice to follow his heart is what makes him human. He is trying to figure out life just like the rest of us. It is our choices to keep pushing or to leave a destructive path that make us incredible. Or, we can let what happens to us destroy us to nothing, but that isn’t what humans do, right?
 
Chasing the idea of perfection is fundamentally chasing a structured idea of normal. We weren’t designed to be normal, you were designed to be human.
 
“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You must not lose it.” Robin Williams