Article from TODAY, 13th September 2008
Many of you would have heard the news by now: Lance Armstrong, the 7-times Tour de France champion whom retired 3 years ago, is back in the professional cycling scene and attempts to challenge for his 8th Tour de France title next year!
Now, what makes this "resurrection" from retirement evermore so impressive and inspiring was the fact that Lance Armstrong is a cancer survivor. Having started out his pro-cycling term on the Tour de France in 1993, he was getting better in his performance by the year and many would have expected him to win the Tour de France in 1996. However, that was when disaster struck - Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer, and (listen to this) the cancerous cells had already spread to his lungs, brain and abdomen! Doctors have listed that Lance's chances of survivor was just a mere 40%.
Pause. How would you have reacted under such circumstances if you were Lance Armstrong? Honestly for me, I would be totally devastated and lost hope on everything in life! Or probably I would give up on cycling, stay home to sulk and complain that life is just seemingly so unfair.
Story continues. But that was not the response from Lance Armstrong. He spent the next two years undergoing intensive regiments of chemotherapy, brain surgery to remove the tumors and even an orchiectomy to remove the diseased testicle (ouch!).
Lance Armstrong's death-defying comeback to the cycling scene began in 1998 on a local competition where he came in 4th. Then in 1999, he won his first Tour de France, leaving the second place cyclist breathing in his tracks of dust by a hefty 7 min 37 seconds! Tremendous accomplishment for a guy whom just a year ago was battling surgeries, rehabilitations and threaded along the brink of death! This road win in 1999 marked the first of the next 6 Tour de France win that was to come. Between 1999 - 2005, Lance Armstrong won 7 Tour de France titled in total, achieving 22 individual stage wins and 11 time trials!
There has been much commotion since the public announcement about why Lance Armstrong wants to come out from retirement. Was it for the money? Was it just another commercially viable publicity stunt? What's Lance Armstrong trying to prove here?
Frankly speaking, it doesn't really matter whether Lance Armstrong wins another Tour de France title or not. Just by looking at his illustrious and adversary-denying track history, I am already inspired by his never-say-die attitude. Whatever the circumstances of life, this guy just refuse to take it lying down and rises up to challenge the odds.
I like what the article above mentioned about Lance Armstong: "He's prepared for the mother of all comebacks, because Armstrong the cancer survivor is all about how men and women can overcome great odds, to reach the mountain top."
May you be inspired by Lance Armstrong's testimony. Irregardless of the odds that may be stacked against us in life, we can choose to rise up and fight on! You can be a 'Lance Armstrong' in every way.
Glossary:
(1) The Tour de France is the world's best-known bicycle race. Started in 1903 and run every year excluding the world wars, it is nowadays a 23-day, 21-stage road race usually covering more than 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi).
(2) Castration (also referred to as: gelding, neutering, fixing, orchiectomy, and orchidectomy) is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testes. In common usage the term is usually applied to males, although as a medical term it is applied to both males and females.
Read more on this article...
Many of you will know that I am a Manchester United fan when it comes to the English Premier League. Then why in the world am I writing about John Terry instead of dazzling Cristiano Ronaldo, legendary Ryan Giggs or giant goal-stopping Edwin Van Der Sar??
With all due respect to Manchester United, I would have to salute John Terry as an inspirational hero that I really look up to. For those of you whom have watched the European Champions League Finals and followed closely with the EPL the past few seasons, you would definitely agree with me that John Terry is without a shadow of a doubt, a man, captain and leader committed to his team through and through.
For once I really agree with what the ex-Chelsea manager always say, "The better team lost tonight." It was a cruel way to lose the finals having dominated the game. It was even more cruel that when the captain choose to take the responsibility of taking the final spotkick, which would have sealed the game, and yet he slipped and missed. The better team and man really didn't deserve this ending.
Look at the way this guy throws his body on the line game after game. Time and again despite being down with twisted ankles, dislocated shoulders and mutiple injuries, he refuses to give up and recovers in double quick time to lead and inspire his team again. Now that's what I call a true hero!
Many attention has been given onto the millions of dollars splashed on the transfer markets for new and young uprising superstars. But to me, no amount of money nor limelight can rob away the attention on this man....
John Terry - A man of Steel, A man of great heart, A True Inspirational Hero
Read more on this article...
An 8-minute long video, but definitely worth watching it.
Dexter Benjamin lost one of his leg while riding his bike and was homeless for a period of time. He bounced back from this adversary and is now a bicycle messenger in the city of New York. Now, that what heroes are made of! Heroes DO NOT wallow in defeat, but rises up with resilience and conquer their fear and challenges.
How about us? We may not be physically handicapped like Dexter Benjamin, but many of us are crippled or overwhelmed by problems in life. Is there anything so bad that we cannot bounce back from?
May the example of Dexter Benjamin encourage you today. :)
Source: http://bikehacks.com Read more on this article...
Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts has spent most of his life feeling 'insignificant'. Bullied at school for being 'different', he realised growing up that he had one true friend and that was his voice. Singing was his escape. He was able to lose himself in his own little world - the vicious words of his tormentors replaced by hauntingly beautiful lyrics and melodies that lifted his heart and spirit. It was a love, a passion, a lifeline that would follow Paul into adulthood and help him through many more periods of adversity. But it was also a gift that was destined to go largely undiscovered, due to a crushing lack of self-confidence that has dogged this hard working and humble man throughout his 36 years.
..... Although Paul has performed at amateur level, most notably with Bath Opera, his chronic lack of self esteem and fear of rejection always prevented him from trying to make it professionally. "As I saw it, if I never asked - never put myself out there - then I'd never get told "No",'says Paul. "It was safer that way."
So instead, he carried on with his day jobs - which have included stacking shelves in a supermarket and, most recently and famously, selling mobile phones, where he was told by one of his superiors that he was a 'natural salesman'. "But I knew I wasn't," says Paul. "When I was selling, I always felt like I was putting on an act. When I sang, that's when I felt I was myself - the real me."
In 2000, Paul used savings and a bit of money he'd won on a quiz show to attend a three-month summer school in Italy, where he learned the language and got to indulge his passion further. He even got to sing in a masterclass for his idol, Pavarotti. But he was about to be dealt a cruel blow.
In 2003, he suffered a burst appendix. While undergoing treatment for this, doctors discovered a benign tumour on his adrenal gland. It was successfully removed but while he was recovering, he was knocked off his bike and broke his collarbone. "Of all the health problems I'd been through, breaking my collar bone was the most painful and it took months to recover," says Paul. " I got very, very low and for once, singing was the last thing on my mind."
..... Though it's fair to say that when Paul strolled awkwardly - almost apologetically - onto the Cardiff stage for his first Britain’s Got Talent audition a week before that final, in his now infamous £35 Tesco suit, and announced to Simon and fellow judges Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan that he was going to sing opera, they never thought for one minute they were looking at their winner.
Until he opened his mouth and started to sing. It was, as Simon has said since, simply magical. "Incredible", agreed Piers. And Amanda, who was moved to tears, said his voice had left her covered in goosebumps. "We were not expecting that," admitted Simon.
"I was so nervous I was shaking like a jelly, but when I watch that audition back, i can see in my eyes that when I start to sing I go to a totally different place and the nerves just vanish," says Paul. "When I stopped singing, there were a few seconds when my heart was racing because I had absolutely no idea what the judges were going to say."
... "All of this is like a fairy tale and I'm terrified I'm going to wake up soon and find I've dreamt it all," says Paul. "The support I've had has been incredible and I feel so touched and humbled by it. It has done so much for my confidence and I really can't thank people enough for giving me the chance to realise my dream. To be given an opportunity like this is more than I ever could have hoped for. Finally, I am going to be doing what I've always felt I was put here to do - something I love and that gives me so much joy"
Reflection:
Just like Paul Potts, many of us get crushed in life because of the hurtful words others say to us, our own self condemnation or even because of external circumstances that are not within our control. But it takes true courage and a dogged determination to shake and wake ourselves up from these defeats of life and rise up to be resilient.
You and I may not have that opera-like voice like Paul Potts here. We don't need to...
The greatest gifting that we can ever develop is that never-give-up attitude in facing life issues!
Acknowledgement:
- Video taken from www.youtube.com
- Biography of Paul Potts from www.paulpottsuk.com
Read more on this article...
"Hey Eejay! When you getting a girlfriend??? Better start finding one soon ah! Else we will bring you to Malaysia and help you find a Malaysian girlfriend!"
These were the ringing words that Uncle Victor and godma Kelly would always say to me either via sms, email or whenever they pop by Singapore. And it never fails to just bring a smile and laughter to me... both of them are SERIOUSLY very concerned for my love life! haha...
I got to know Uncle Vic and godma Kelly back in year 2004 in church and I informally came under their mentorship by constantly shadowing them along, observing and learning from them. And we would always enjoy the time of fellowship best over a cup of teh-tarik. Trust me, I never liked teh-tarik or teh-C until I met both of them! haha... It was always over these teh tarik fellowship that we shared our hearts out... about mentoring youths, church matters, our families, about BGR.... basically everything under the sun! Our joke was always that we live in a 3G era, and our topics are also 3G - God, G12 Vision and Girls! hahahaha......
One of the most important principle that I caught from Uncle Vic and godma Kelly is the authenticity of their lives. They are who they are, genuine and transparent and never trying to hide anything from the people around. The greatest teaching and discipleship that I learnt from them was not from some great theories they formulated, but purely just by observing the way they lead their lives and how open they are to blessing the people around them.
Inspired by them, I also have teh-tarik fellowship with the youths that I mentor, and learn to open up my life to share boldly with them. Through Uncle Vic and godma Kelly, I have come to understand that for people to open up to you, You must first open up yourself to them. :)
Thank you Uncle Vic and godma Kelly for opening up your lives to me.... I am a live that was blessed and changed.
Read more on this article...
We are who we are today because there have been some people whom made a difference in our journey of life. Whether it was a unique moment, or special season, they came and left a great imprint within us that changed our lives and the way we look at things since then.These people are HEROS....
I have many heros in my life too and in this year, watch out for my exciting series as I introduce them to you and share with you how they have created an everlasting impact in my life.
Watch out for HEROS REVEALED! Read more on this article...