If you read my other two blog entries Attitude, Attitude, Attitude and Attitude Adjustment, hopefully you are beginning to understand that it is a combination of your attitude and an ongoing process that are necessary to begin to deal with some of your daily frustrations. There is another barrier to some people’s efforts to think beyond traditional methods of accomplishing an objective. That obstacle is the concept of failure. Dealing with life's adversities often involves risk and along with risk comes the idea of success or failure. We are often reluctant to take a risk for fear we may not be able to accomplish what we are trying to do and that implies failure. First of all, nobody always achieves what they set out to do. Secondly, many individuals have the misconception that failure is bad. However, failure if approached with a positive attitude, provides opportunity for learning and hence for growth. In a “60 Minutes” interview LeBron James, the famous NBA basketball player, was asked what advice he would give to young kids, his response was not to be afraid to fail. LeBron James said, “Don’t be afraid of failure".
Making adaptive equipment often involves a learning process that includes a change in attitude. If you have an idea for creating a piece of adaptive equipment, pursue it. Remember for all of us, thinking out of the box is a strategy that can lead us down the road to success. When making adaptive equipment try to keep things simple. Use materials that are readily available and make the tools multifunctional if possible. Do not let yourself become discouraged for very few things happen quickly. Learning to approach a task with a new outlook will take time. However, success breeds success and after awhile you will look at things differently. Look at a new situation not as a problem, but as a challenge needing to be addressed. Set your mind free of the cultural restraints which may prevent you from finding a solution. The following poem hung on the wall in my classroom for years.
ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE
Author Unknown
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The people who risk nothing, do nothing, have nothing, are nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
~ from page 147 of the book "Addiction by Prescription" by Joan Gadsby
No comments:
Post a Comment