This is a story of a young man who lost functionality of his body at the young and tender age of 12 years old. All the doctors predicted his death with months or a few years at the most. His parents were told to bring him home, take care of him and wait for him to die. They were shocked and exhausted when faced the extraordinary challenge of taking care of their son in his apparent vegetable state for a decade. At one point his mother actually said in front of him, "I hope you die." As she would painfully find out later upon his recovery he heard every heart wrenching word. His inspirational journey back to health started from one decision to take control of this thoughts. From there he built.
Today he is married and communicates through a special keyboard. He went on to college and build a career. NPR beautifully tells the story of Martin Pistorius in this podcast.
We all face moments of solitude and even depression. However, Martin's journey is rare and fascinating. Gaining control, even over the most minute things and in our minds, seems to have catalyzed Martin's transformation. He took one step mentally and through that step he defeated a sense of helplessness and began to build from there.
We have so many opportunities throughout our day to change our perspective. So many people fall to desperation trying to control that which is beyond us. However, it is important to remember that there are so many opportunities to change your world, internally and externally, simply by focusing on what you're actually able to do. Don't ever give up!
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