Along with beauty, brokenness isn’t spoken of much either.
We’ll talk about it conceptually or in generalities, but the closer we get to specifics, the quicker we seem to want out of the conversation.
People with physical disabilities have always struck a strange chord with me. Their brokenness is so blatant and transparent for everyone to see.
Do they wish people addressed their obvious brokenness? Are they tired of people feeling sorry for them? Do they feel a nagging sense of being robbed of base level human attributes?
And then I see photos like this from the paralympics…
People competing and pursuing dreams despite their conditions…
Would you say they’re any less human? Are their lives any less fulfilling?
And just because they’ve overcome some challenges, it’s not like they are without their continued struggles, hurts, and failures
And then there’s moments of overwhelming beauty
These photos make you think twice the next time you say “I can’t…” don’t they?
Maybe life’s not about how you start the race, or even the massive stumbles along the way, but about what you do with it all, and how you finish.
Some things might be undeniably broken, but it doesn’t always have to be that way.
Top photo by funky64, the rest are from boston.com
Join the solarcrash facebook page for the next live event exploring being broken
When I see these photos I don’t see brokenness…I see
COURAGE
DETERMINATION
BEAUTY
HARD WORK
ACCOMPLISHMENT
PRIDE
I also see years of preparation and encouragement from parents, and siblings, and doctors, and therapists, and coaches who didn’t put limits on them. Who told them they could do anything they put their mind to.
Mostly, I see a dream for my son.
Deana – I think I originally discovered those links from a tweet of yours like a year back. Thank you for sharing… we really do need more people who see the world as you do, thanks for helping teach the rest of us…
You can watch the Paralympics online :
http://www.paralympicsport.tv
They are such an inspiration to me!