Tag Archive: story

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 

Heartwarming Mussar from a Two-legged Turtle!

The following story recently took place in Brazil: A turtle had an unfortunate run-in with an electric fence. Ultimately, veterinarians were left with no choice but to amputate BOTH of the turtle’s front legs. Facing a life slower than even a normal pokey turtle pace, the team at Veterinary Hospital of Uberaba came up with a creative solution—wheels! With the help of two wheels typically used for office furniture, the hapless turtle was back on the move, wheeling around the hospital in no time.

I believe this story is something we all can learn from! Turtles are known to be incredibly slow.

This Brazilian turtle was seemingly doomed to live a life as: The Slowest Turtle Known to Mankind!

And yet, due to a healthy dose of effort and persistence on the account of the veterinarians to not give up on this hapless turtle—he will be able to carry on with life for many years to come. This episode reminds me of the famous quote from Denis Waitley who states, “the results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply!” In this instance the veterinarians put a great amount of effort and thought into how they could restore a semblance of normalcy for this little turtle. In so doing, they accomplished their goal, and by extension, taught us all a lesson as well.

You see, if on a particular day you find yourself feeling a bit down—think of this cute turtle! After all, even if you feel like there is no hope…all you need is a bit of effort, persistence, and belief that the Ultimate Doctor—Hashem—is looking out for our best—and wallah there will be a new set of wheels right around the corner that will help us be back up and running!

March 27, 2011 | Tags: , , | 2 Comments 

Life Lessons from 13 Year Old Jordan Romero

There are many great things that have come with the comforts of contemporary society. That said, there is a side effect that sweeps across children, tweens, teenagers, and even young adults. Namely, people are increasingly coddled. Indeed, in 2008 Newsweek Magazine dedicated an entire article entitled: How to Cope When Your Adult Kids Move Back Home! What’s more, there is even a television program that follows this phenomenon. The show is called, Bank of Mom and Dad and features parents attempting to help their children cope with the financial reality of living as an “adult.” Unfortunately, many of the “kids” have gone wildly astray and are besieged with credit card debt and a lifestyle that they never could have ever afforded!

With that said, it is well known that a boy celebrates his Bar Mitzvah at the ripe young age of 13 years old. To many people new or familiar to Judaism, this age at first glance may seem a bit young for a boy to be considered “a MAN in the Eyes of G-d!” I have heard many a person comment that this age is simply too young for society, let alone the Almighty, to place adult like expectations upon such young shoulders.

And so, I was relieved to read that in today’s day and age, there are still some kids who put there mind to a gargantuan task, aim to perform and achieve their mission! In so doing, they show us all that at the (what we consider young) age of thirteen, you can after all achieve a lot more than one would think…as long as you put your mind to it and follow through with your aspirations!

A recent instance of the above mentioned can be found in the story of Jordan Romero. Let’s be honest. Most adults would not dare to venture near Mount Everest…let alone climb to the top of this legendary mountain. And yet, that is exactly what thirteen-year-old, Jordan Romero, hailing from sunny California accomplished. He set out to become the youngest person ever to scale Mount Everest! Upon reaching the top he called home to let his mother know that he was at the peak of the world’s highest mountain. I’m certain that his mother was beaming knowing that her son had performed what many would think is simply impossible! To read more about Jordan’s story see here.

All in all, I think it’s a great story of Chizuk and motivation for anyone age 1-120. It reminds us that we can achieve the impossible! Even if we are a small start-up company we can achieve success. Even if we aren’t the smartest kid in the class or let alone in the entire Yeshiva we can climb to our own individual heights and maximize our unique potential as a Jew as well as a human being. And so, the next time you are up against a big challenge and you think that you are just this “little nothing” remember the story of young Jordan Romero, who reminds us all that little kids can achieve big things!

May 23, 2010 | Tags: , , | 2 Comments 


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