Running For His Life - Reader's Digest June 2008

After reading this article, I found that the power of determination can be very big. The power of determination had helped Ryan to succeed. He is determined not to have the injection that would cripple him. He kept specifying that he does not want people to sympathise and help him. He wanted to be seen as a normal person. The act of hiding the facts of his disease from other runners also shows as an evidence that he wanted to be seen normally.

Ryan believed in himself. He believed that he could overcome the pain himself, even without the injection. He wants to use his own might to overcome this disease. The encouragement that his family had given him had also helped a lot.

Even though his training was tough, he had never once felt like giving up as he is very sure of what he wants: not to be seen as a useless person. And running is the only way to change other’s opinion of him. Therefore he continued no matter how hard it is.

The ability of running fast serves as a hidden talent in Ryan. If Ryan decides to let the disease get over him, feels useless, depressed, and decided not to do anything about it, he would not have found out his talent in running and would not be a successful runner now. Running had helped Ryan to forget about his pain, even though the pain only subsided when he was running. However this moment might be the moment he enjoyed the most. He could then prove that he is not a useless person and since found his goal in life.

There are many obstacles in life. Most of these obstacles could be overcome, the only difference is how we intend to overcome them. If we decide to do nothing about these obstacles, we would never overcome them. Ryan had learnt how to overcome his disease by covering up his pain, leaning to one side to hide his limp and to follow someone through a doorway. He succeeded in overcoming this disease by winning medals through running and by letting people recognised him for something he did well, rather than his illness.

He had shown to us that even though he had a disease that most people would think that he would not be able walk, he never gave up and found something which he is good at which is to run. And this is something that most people would have never thought that he could have ever done. He had showed to us that determination, encouragement, to believe in oneself and to never give up are all very important aspects in life in order to succeed.

by: Xin Yi (23)