Amy Purdy’s story in visualization …
When I lost my legs, one of the toughest periods was when I stood up in my legs for the first time because they were so painful, and they were so confining that I thought, How am I ever going to live this life of my dreams? How am I ever going to travel the world? How am I ever going to snowboard again? And that day, I was so emotionally and physically broken that I crawled into bed and I didn’t get out for a good fifteen hours …
So, I hit this point where I realized my legs are not coming back. And there is nothing I can do about this situation right now. And it was that moment that prompted me to ask myself this question: If my life’s was a book, and I was the author, how would I want this story to go?
And I thought, Well, I don’t want to see myself as this sad, disabled girl. I know that. I don’t want other people to see me as that either. I thought, what do I want to see? I want to see myself walking again gracefully. And I wanted to see myself somehow sharing, somehow helping other people through this journey. And I saw myself snowboarding again. I had visualized it so strongly in that moment that I didn’t just see myself carving down this mountain of powder. I could feel it. I could feel the wind against my face. I could feel the beat of my racing heart. I could feel my muscles twitching as if it was happening in that very moment. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I knew that I was going to do it.
And now, I try to live my life knowing that if you can see it and you can feel it and you believe it, then it is completely possible.
Excerpt from Oprah’s The Wisdom of Sundays.
