She wasn’t born death and blind. She was a perfectly normal little girl until at 19 months she became sick with “Brain Fever” and she lost both her sight and hearing. She wasn’t a poor girl either. Her parents were rich and well off. This is Helen Keller’s story.
It was a good thing that she was born into a rich family because her mother made decisions that would change Helen’s life. She obviously didn’t believe that her little girl would remain helpless for the rest of her life. Instead what came out was Helen Keller, the giant personality who achieved as much as she wanted to.
She began life so well. She began to speak at the age of only 6 months and she walked at the age of 1 year. She was unstoppable.
The challenges weren’t small. Helen must have realized that something drastic had changed since she could experience the world at one point and suddenly she couldn’t anymore. She became frustrated and unruly because she could no longer express herself nor interact with the world in the way she wanted to.
When Helen Keller was 6, she was enrolled at the Perkins School for the Blind where she met her teacher Ann Sullivan. As I was writing this it really gave me CHILLS. When you see what is possible that others cannot see, it is just simply beyond words, but the body never lies!
Helen Keller Best quote
If you see the movie, “The Miracle Worker”, you’ll see how difficult it was to teach Helen. There was anger and frustration, maybe even desperation. Then a stroke of genius came to Anne Sullivan: she was trying to teach Helen about water. She dragged the girl outside to the school’s water pump and poured water on Helen’s hand while Anne taught her finger spelling, the word “water.” OMG moment!
Finally Helen Keller figured it out and Anne knew how she needed to teach. It was a major breakthrough as the little girl eagerly learned 30 new words that same day. It was the beginning of the rest of her life!
She became unstoppable again.
By age 10, she mastered braille and the manual alphabet.
By age 16, she had learned to use a type writer and speak well enough to enter prep school.
By age 24, she graduated from Radcliffe College Cum Laude. She was the first deaf blind person to do so. While in college Anne Sullivan signed each lesson into her hand.
Imagine how this could happen! The tremendous amount of brain power she had to remember lessons “dictated” to her in this way.
She wrote books. She wrote articles. She was a public speaker. She spoke out on the issues of the day including women’s suffrage and birth control. She changed the perception of the blind. She advocated for the blind. Schools popped up for the blind.
She transformed the view of people with disabilities. Her success taught others about possibilities. A lot can be learned about her triumph over her disabilities. But I’ll bet if it weren’t for what happened to her she may not have achieved all she did if she hadn’t gone deaf and blind.
Too many able-bodied people live lives in quite desperation. They think they’re victims of a “system.” But the only system there is the habit of thinking that you have in place.
Helen Keller changed her life so that she could make a difference – first she had to find it inside herself. Then she did the utterly remarkable things she did to make her life count for something. I am sure there were days when it felt bleak even as she was striving. But she overcame those temporary set backs.
Even the loss of her hearing and sight were temporary circumstances. What challenges are you allowing to set you back? Your concussion(s)? Your injuries?
Think about it.
My work is all about possibility and possibility thinking. It changes the brain. It heals the brain. Neuroplasticity works both ways. You’re either shrinking the brain which is therefore a sick brain or you’re growing it. As you expand your life by WHAT you are THINKING, you are encouraging the birth and growth of new healthy brain cells and creating new healthy neural networks.
Because you’ve chosen to think constructively and positively and then taken those thoughts and put them into action to produce the results you want!
So, what about you?
Are you pouring your heart and soul into something that has a lot of meaning for you?
Are you ready to make tough decisions and go after what you want?
Success is not easy, not matter how you cut it. But the results are mighty fine. Stop living small. Dream big. Do big. Take a leap of faith. And be your own person all the way!
Dr. Joanny Liu, TCMD, RAc, B.Civil Eng, International #1 Best Selling Author and founder of Extraordinary Sports Medicine, where we help athletes reverse injury, get back in the game they love and improve their quality of life.
P.S. Watch Nathan’s Successful Recovery from Post Concussion Syndrome:
If you or someone you care about has a concussion or post concussion syndrome then pick up Dr. Joanny’s best seller: Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game
