There is a young man that I met on Twitter and he hit me over the head with his youthful candor today. Previously, he has taught me things regarding Twitter, the internet and the like but what he taught me today was very different. His name is Gloson. He is eleven years old and lives in Malaysia. Since Rugby’s book will be on the shelves soon, I thought I’d try to get Gloson’s opinion regarding the book and its’ message.
I wanted to make sure that we hadn’t left a stone unturned regarding our attempt to motivate handicapped people and in particular, handicapped children so I sent a message to Gloson via Twitter. “Gloson, I value your opinion @RugbyJones book’s out beginning May. If you were a handicapped kid, what would you need in the book to motivate you?
He answered, “Nothing is impossible. Everyone can.” I thought that he was missing something in my question and so I answered, “I agree with you. The problem is that some kids give up and then they can’t help themselves. That’s what RugbyJones is trying to do to help with his book.” A few minutes later, Gloson sent me the URL for a site and when I checked it out, I realized that it was I who was missing something, not Gloson. This was his simple, young and powerful answer, “Show them http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org I’ve even heard of a man without hands who plays guitar with his feet.”
Rugby’s and my messages have always been that life is only what each of us makes it but viewing the information on the site that Gloson connected me to, defined my message even more.
It was different from the saying that, “I cried because I had no shoes and then I wept when I saw a man who had no feet.” This site was not sad even though it showed people without limbs because their lives were what they were making them. What they were making their lives was something absolutely awesome!
Please check out http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org and check out this young man’s blog and site. It will put things in perspective AND teach you what this special young man is sharing with the world. http://www.glosonblog.com/ Gloson, I am proud to follow you on Twitter and I hope that we might be able to meet face to face one day. To Gloson’s mom, I say, You must be an incredible mother to have such an incredible son!
