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60 Minutes Sports just did a segment on sled hockey, that version of ice hockey played by disabled people who strap themselves onto a sled with two blades underneath. The game is fast and physical. Just like regular ice hockey.
Part of the segment was about men who returned from war torn regions of the world with severe disabilities. One young in particular had lost both legs to a road side bombing. As he recounted the day of his injuries he told the reporter he knew he had been badly hurt. When he discovered that he had lost both legs he said he wondered about a lot of things. “I wondered if I’d ever be able to do this or that,” he said.
But then he said something that hit me unlike anything has hit me in a long time.
It was pretty tough there for a couple of months.”
I stared at the TV screen and thought, “A couple of months?”
He didn’t appear to be any older than 25. I watched his facial expression as he talked and realized – he’s serious!
This young man is serious about how it was a tough couple of months. He loses both legs, gets fitted with prosthetic limbs, has to learn to walk all over again and he characterizes it as “a tough couple of months.”
I can suffer a setback and be on my heels for 6. Shoot, I’ve had some setbacks that lingered well over a year and no limbs were lost. I haven’t even had a broken bone in my life, but I can get knocked down and dragged out with the best of them.
And don’t I feel stupid, ashamed and weak now?
Of course I do. Don’t you?
About the hosts: Randy Cantrell brings over 4 decades of experience as a business leader and organization builder. Lisa Norris brings almost 3 decades of experience in HR and all things "people." Their shared passion for leadership and developing high-performing cultures provoked them to focus the Grow Great podcast on city government leadership.
The work is about achieving unprecedented success through accelerated learning in helping leaders and executives "figure it out."