Some days you wake up and feel bad for yourself. You're having a bad hair day. You burnt the bottom of the coffee pot. And on second thought, that new shirt that you thought screamed "One Hot Mama" is really saying "Grandma's Trying Too Hard."
And it's for those days that I'm going to suggest you bookmark the following video. You're going to need it. Because Adam Starr lost his leg in a battle with cancer in 2009. And the former gymnast is back in the gym and kicking serious rear end. Check this out:
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Wowza! Talk about a life lesson. The fact is, I can't do most of that stuff with two legs, and I haven't had the energy to get my butt back to Zumba class in months. But watching this 26-year-old man -- who has every right to sit at home on his couch, vegging out and watching re-runs of Law and Order -- doing somersaults has done something crazy to me today.
It's made me feel really good about myself. Crazy, I know. I could say, "Eh, I'll never have the guts or the coordination of that guy." But Adam Starr makes me want to be the kind of person who sees the glass as "half full." He makes me want to be the kind of mom who looks around her messy house and, instead of despairing over the disaster, sees a kid who is so caught up in creativity that she had to pour out the whole box of LEGOs to get at the "right one." I want to be the kind of person who looks at her flabby belly and counts her blessings that she has enough to eat at night, can even afford to splurge on an ice cream cone when it's hot. I want to be the woman who hears her favorite song on the radio and dances around the kitchen, even with the babysitter here, even though she can't dance.
If Adam Starr can take on gymnastics with one leg, a little burnt coffee and frizzy hair can't stop the rest of us.
Is this the most inspiring thing you've ever seen?
Image via YouTube