Tag Archive: chizuk

2 Recent Uplifting Moments of Chizuk from Sports!

I’m sure we all remember the cutesy message from the famous story The Little Train that Could in which the little train is able to persevere against seemingly impossible odds and delivers goods that people expected only a Big Train could deliver. Sadly, while we may believe in this story as children, we often forget it’s message as we mature and enter adulthood. So what can we turn to as men? I believe one of the places we can look to is the world of sports! Below are two inspirational stories of people who aren’t well known, but who worked against all odds to achieve greatness.

Meet Anthony Robles. Although he was born without a right leg, young Anthony didn’t let that stop him from dreaming—and ultimately achieving his goals. The Arizona State senior won the national title at 125 pounds earlier this month on March 19. What’s more, this victory capped an unbelievable 36-0 season. For him to achieve this feat with both legs would have been a seemingly impossible accomplishment. And yet, he didn’t let his lack of a right leg get in the way!

On the flip side of things meet Kelly Gneiting (full story here). He weighs a whopping 400 pounds! Still, Gneiting is a dreamer. Finishing a marathon and running 26.2 miles is a goal he’s wanted to reach since he was a young boy. Unfortunately, he feel on hard times and turned to food for comfort. He ate and ate and ate until it got in the way of his being able to even earn a living. In the late ’90s, he discovered sumo wrestling after watching a tournament on ESPN. Eventually, he used his weight to become a national champion sumo wrestler! Still, he wanted to achieve his boyhood dream of running a marathon. And so, for weeks on end he trained to finish the L.A. Marathon and set a Guinness record in the process.

Guess what? After 9 hours, 48 minutes and 52 seconds he crossed the finish line and sent a message to a society obsessed with being thin. “Big people,” he said, “can do the unimaginable.”

And so, while the world marvels at Kobe Bryant’s ability to shoot a ball yomam valaylah (see video below and this link), both Anthony Robles and Kelly Gneiting are the latest on a long list of recent uplifting moments in sports that can teach us how to win the Game of Life and stay true to our plan for spiritual success.

If you gain Chizuk from sports, I recommend you checkout the blog of Rabbi Joshua Hess or follow him on Twitter @RabbiHess. He blogs about sports and religion as the FANatic Rabbi and will give you a great perspective on life using the world of sports as the backdrop!

March 27, 2011 | Tags: , , | 1 Comment 


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