Some time ago, I was giving a training on personal leadership to a class of secondary students when I came across a story of a 10 year old boy. Although this is not a true story, I think it is a worthy story to share with you.
Everyone has strength and weakness. Just when you are thinking that something may be your weakness, think twice. Sometimes your weakness may turn out to be your greatest strength, just as in this case.
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The story of one 10 year old boy who decided to study Judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began his lessons with an old Japanese Judo Master. As the boy was doing well in his lessons, he could not understand why after three months of training and his master had taught him only one move.
“Sensei,” the boy finally asked. “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”
“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know.” the Sensei replied.
Not quite understanding what the Sensei meant, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept on training.
Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be over-matched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the Sensei intervened.
“No.” the Sensei insisted. “Let him continue.”
Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him down. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.
On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.
“Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”
“You won for two reasons,” the Sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of Judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
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Had there been any situation where you thought something was your weakness but it turned out to be your strength? Do share with us your experience on how you had turned a weakness into your strength.
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That’s an excellent story. I can’t think of anything right now that I’ve thought as a weakness that has proved to be a strength.
.-= Petula´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Poor monkey, forgotten squid =-.
I know of a story. It’s about a friend from bowling. He loves to bowl so much and has spent money for his training. He became a good bowler. But one day he had a car accident and his right hand, his bowling hand, had to be amputated. He was devastated and didn’t show up for a year. And then one day we were all surprised to see him back in the bowling alley. He was bowling again, this time with his left hand. All those months that he didn’t show up, he was learning to bowl with his left hand.
.-= Cafe Au Lait´s last blog ..WW – Eyeball =-.
@ Petula, it’s alright. Probably with this story, when we are hit with undesirable situation, we can work out something or turn it into a desirable situation. 🙂
@ Cafe Au Lait, your friend is truly an inspiration. Most people would have stopped bowling altogether after what happened but he picked himself up. We can definitely learn from his spirit of determination and perseverance. Thank you for sharing with us this wonderful story about your friend. I remember a quotation that goes something like this, “… our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
One of my greatest weakness would be the fact that I get incredibly nervous when speaking in front of a group of people. I’m not too experience dealing with this over the past several years. Ever since I attended workshops and get quality advice from experienced speakers to overcome this anxiety, i feel much more confident these days when I need to speak in front of groups and give presentations.
and i believe everything is possible with a strong willpower.
.-= liferamblings´s last blog ..Delicious Nasi Lemak =-.
Inspiring story BK. I believe mine will also become my strength. Have a great weekend!
.-= VanillaSeven´s last blog ..Garden Goose =-.
@ Liferamblings, thank you for sharing your experience. I was once afraid of speaking in front of a group of people too. But that time I just conquered my fear with doing it. At first I was very nervous but as I go along, it just got better. At time I could even feel that I was connected to the audience. In fact after a while it got fun actually to be able to speak in front of a group of people. I believe too that everything is possible with strong willpower.
@ VanillaSeven, have a great weekend too.
Wow, that was a great story.
I once dreamed of playing basketball in the college level in US. But I messed up my ACL on my left knee.
I did not let that stop me and I rehabilitated my knee and worked twice as hard on my game.
But after eight months and after starting to play basketball again I tore the same ACL on my left knee once again.
Doctors told me that I would probably never play sports again.
I quit for couple of months, but decided to try one more time, and I became the first ever basketball player from North Part of Finland to play in the Division 1 college level here in US.
Although the injuries felt devastating to me at the time, I am still grateful for the emotional, mental, and physical lessons that I learned from them.
And now I am also professionally competing in salsa dancing :).
.-= Mikko Kemppe – Relationship Coach´s last blog ..The Secret To Getting A Guy To Do Anything You Want =-.
@ Mikko, I truly admired the strength and perseverance you displayed back then. Could you have actually run the risk of like permanently injuring your knee? Through your sharing, it truly shown how important physical and mental strength are to conquering obstacles in life. Thank you for sharing your experience.
oh that was just sweet. Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful story.
hmmm that makes me look into myself and start reviewing which of those are my strength or my weakness.
thanks again!
.-= Mikes Sumondong´s last blog ..I Do What I Don’t Want To Do =-.
@ Mikes, thank you for taking the time to comment for this post and sorry for giving you the trouble. I believe we all need to really re-look into our weaknesses and maybe we can find strength in them. 🙂
WOW!
Thank you so much for sharing this. F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C !!
Ok this story is so absolutely deep. I totally loved it and as soon as I write something related I’m linking to this one.
So I’m off to tweeting and stumbling this post too.
I’m going to read this to my boys tomorrow for our devotional time. They will love it.
Blessings to you,
Eren Mckay
.-= Eren Mckay´s last blog ..Whitney Houston interviewed by Oprah Winfrey my perspective on it all =-.
@ Eren, many thanks in advance for the link and tweeting and stumbling. It will certainly be a good story to share with your boys. Blessings to you too.
Nice. Very cool story. It reminds me of an ancient Chines proverb. “He who overcomes others is strong. He who overcomes himself is mighty.” Turning our weaknesses into strengths makes us mighty.
.-= Ben´s last blog ..Cambodia Motorcycle Diary #4 =-.
@ Ben, thank you for sharing that Chinese proverb.