An inspirational story about W. Mitchell

There is a Serenity prayer from Alcoholics Anonymous that goes like this: “God grant me the Serenity to accept things I cannot change, the Courage to change things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.”

It seems like knowing exactly what you can change and what you cannot change will give you peace of mind. Recognising things that are changeable allows us to change them immediately. And recognising what is unchangeable will give us another gift, the gift of acceptance.

Some things we just cannot change.

More times than not, it‘s very difficult to change other people it’s easier to change ourselves. More times than not, we cannot change the reality that we see around us but we can change our perception of that reality. And when we change those
perceptions, things around us start to change themselves.

Sometimes people who are dealing with terminal illnesses know that it’s not as easy as recognising that “If I change my internal state I will get well.” Sometimes that happens but it involves change at deeper levels than we currently understand.

To illustrate this there is an inspirational story about W. Mitchell who in his book “It’s Not What Happens To You, It Is What You Do About It That Makes The Difference,” talks about being accountable for everyone of his actions. He talked about where he was in several accidents and in all of these accidents he had to under go many operations and approximately 2 years of medical recovery, after which he went on with his life. Even though now he was called “ugly” and disfigured, he told people that he had forgotten how unacceptable he was and he forgot that there was anything wrong with himself. Because he had
forgotten that he was ugly, other people did too.

“You see what I learnt,” he says “during those two years that it took to me to fully recover, to learn to dress myself again, to drive again and yes to even fly an airplane again, what I focussed on in life is what I get. And if I concentrate on how bad I am or how wrong or how inadequate I am, if I concentrate on what I can’t do and of how much time there is to do it, isn’t that what I get every time?

And when I think about how powerful I am and when I think about what I have left to contribute and when I think about the difference I can make on this planet then that is what I get. You see I recognise that it is not what happens to you, it’s
what you do about it.”

Now W. Mitchell is a giant of a man and a very important teacher. But his story does not end there at all. He talks about when he was in his second major accident and lost the use of his legs permanently, that when he was tying to learn to use his new wheelchair, he met a young man that wasn’t doing too well emotionally and physically. This former athlete’s world ended when he lost the use of his legs. Confined to a wheelchair, he could no longer ski or climb mountains.

Mitchell decided to talk with this fellow patient of his and this is what he said: “One day, while trying the best I could to think of something to say that could help him, that might make a difference, I went over to him. I told him that before I was paralysed, there were ten thousand things that I could do. Now there were nine thousand. Sure I could dwell on those one thousand things and spend the rest of my life doing that or I could focus on the nine thousand that I have left. If, in my lifetime, I am able to do a few hundred of those things, I’ll be one of the most remarkable people on this planet. You see, it’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do about it that makes the difference.”

And like most winners, Mitchell spent most of his life looking for the learning in everything. His philosophy is very simple:
“The only losers are the people that don’t get into the race. The only losers are the people who don’t stand up to be countered. The only losers are the people who don’t try to make a difference.” Mitchell Official Website: http://www.wmitchell.com

So getting your life to hum starts from within you. Shape or be shaped by the environment, the choice is yours and now is the perfect time. Where you are is the perfect place. All that you have, is all you need…….for now.