After the recent sad death of Christopher
Reeve, I would just like to share my thoughts about how his philosophy encompasses so many of the spiritual teachings we have learned. His book, "Nothing is Impossible," tells of his life as a
paralysed man fighting not only to come to terms with his disability physically but also the amazing transition mentally and spiritually. The reader might assume that he had alot to be depressed about but
staring in the face of adversity he decided to take a different path. What better advocate than someone who could see the world from a wheelchair himself kowing that through his own suffereing he could make
a difference to other peoples' lives. His fame has helped us to notice publicly what many disabled people live daily. Yet Christopher Reeve remained humble to the last, recognising what he had as gifts both
before and after his accident. It truly is an excellent read and thoroughly recommended.
Following on from the essence of this book I would like to just add a few points myself.
It is human nature
to avoid suffering, to avoid difficulty and hardship and yet it is at those very times that the soul really comes into its own. We do have a choice of how we perceive our plight. Maybe we chose to experience
some of the difficulties we have to go through in life to either work out karma or to see what it would be like in that situation.
Yet so often disability, suffering and pain are seen in such a negative
way. I have myself, had numerous hip operations and I truly know what constant pain is like. I consider that I had a choice of how I dealt with it. I could so easily have been miserable, turned my cheek to
the world and descended into a depression, expecting to be a recipient rather than a giver. But I did not want to. I have always seen my physical limitations as just that. Physical ones. It has been through
some of the hardest times in my life that I have truly come to know Spirit.So often people ask "why me" - my answer is " why not me? I want to make it my life's work to help souls to achieve their full
potential.
I would ask you to consider for yourself, even in the darkest of hours, what can you learn positively from your experiences? How can you turn a seemingly difficult situation into a positive one?
I fully appreciate that this can be the last thing on your mind in the midst of a crisis but there really is no better feeling than to help someone else at a time when you and they are in need. The
understanding and empathy one can impart who too has known suffering is truly enlightening to the soul and it is at those moments of reflection and connectedness that the real gifts of the spirit are
awakened.
Christopher Reeve leaves a legacy. Not only as an example of what can be achieved physically through determination, but perhaps more importantly that the spirit that operates through the physical
body has an energy and wisdom that never ceases to amaze us.
