Nothing To Prove

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Years ago my wife and I took a short cruise that made a stop in Nassau, Bahamas. We were there for about half the day and spent the time meandering and checking out the sights. At one point we walked along the beach and enjoyed the beauty of the ocean and the waves beating along the shore. There was this man and his wife on the beach and he was in the process of renting a personal water craft (you know, Wave Runner/Jet Ski). He had a fairly serious physical disability with his arms that made it more difficult to operate the machine, but he hopped on and started to maneuver the thing in circles at an unsafe speed while shouting with excitement. His wife stood at the water’s edge attempting to get him to stop being careless. She looked as though she was very nervous and scared, but I also got the feeling that she had been through this type of thing before. I got the distinct impression that her husband spent a great deal of time attempting to prove to himself and the world around him that his disability was not a hindrance to him in any way. His wife looked as though she had suffered a great deal of stress as a result.

The thing is that careless bravado does not equal an overcoming spirit or a victorious lifestyle. In a great sense it only equals foolishness. I don’t want to be like that guy. I do want to live my life, and I do want to try different things and enjoy them. I want to reach every limit and do the most that my body allows. What I don’t want, however, is to do things in order to prove what I already know or deny things that are clearly evident. I’ve been careful about dealing with the limits brought about by my motorcycle accident injuries over the past years. I just find myself at times thinking that perhaps it isn’t all as bad as it is. Truth be told, it always will be exactly what it is, and I should never allow the quality of my life to be diminished within my mind as a result. I think that we should all learn to actually enjoy life with the hand that we’ve been dealt while doing the best we can with what we have.




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