I once heard a basketball player say that in his career he has missed over 9,000 shots, has lost over 300 games and twenty-six times he has been trusted to take the game-winning shot and has missed.
And yet, we still call Michael Jordan a champion.
Is there any set back, any disappointment, any amount of vision loss that can keep you from becoming the champion that you were born to be?
You should be shouting "Absolutely not!"
Many successful people in this world have gone above and beyond what most believed to be possible for their lives. The key that you find in all of their lives is their unshakeable determination to persist.
If you have experienced vision loss due to Macular Degeneration or any other condition condition, you have already discovered that you will have to find different ways to accomplish many ordinary tasks. Your creativity will be put to the test. To find many of the answers, you will have to adopt that same unshakeable determination to persist.
The dictionary says to persist means to hold steadfast to your purpose despite obstacles or setbacks.
Albert Einstein, who as a child had a learning disability and struggled with math and writing in school, and yet whose name became familiar with genius,
once said, "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."
How long are you willing to search for the answers? Know that the answers will come. They are out there. You must, however, continue to move forward in order to find them.
Had I given up on my dream of becoming a teacher after I lost my sight, I never would have overlooked the answers that, in the beginning, I did not even know existed. In fact, the answer that helped me the most was not yet invented at the time I lost my sight.
The answer that I discovered that had the greatest impact on my life was finding my first video magnifier. It made it possible for me to see to read and to complete the paperwork required of me as a teacher.
Had I not kept moving forward when things looked so impossible, I never would have discovered this technology which was first invented in 1970.
Persist. Never give up. Giving up can never be an option. There are answers out there that you have not yet discovered, answers that may literally change your life!
So jump up and get going. And if you run into a brick wall then find a way to tunnel under it, blast through it, or pole vault over it!