ABOVE YOU

From an article title by P.H. Mullen “Everything is possible if you can just believe” that appeared in SwimmingWorld of July 2005.
Despite losing her leg only a year after she just missed qualifying for the Olympics, South African swimmer Natalie du Toit still competes, still succeeds and still dream of one day taking part in an Olympic Games.

By the time she was a teenager, South African swim-ming had its eye on Natalie du Toit. The versatile Cape Town swimmer lit up the pool, set-ting multiple national age group records in both medley events and dominating many of her races. At 16, she nearly qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics in three events. People sensed great things were in store for the strong, determined swimmer. In 2004, Athens could become her playground. Then in 2001, those plans abruptly changed. Done with morning workout, du Toit eased her motor scooter into Monday rush-hour traffic and headed to school.

Just down the street from her pool, a careless driver exiting a parking lot ran directly into her left leg. The scene was gruesome; the devastation was immediately obvious. “I kept saying, ‘I’ve lost my leg, I’ve lost my leg,’” remembers du Toit. Her teammates rushed to her. Traffic snarled. The scene: total, horrible chaos. A motorcycle policeman racing to the accident crashed headfirst into a truck and had to be airlifted to a hospital. It would have been merciful if du Toit had fainted. But this is a girl who confronts reality without blinking. She stayed awake. At that moment, Natalie du Toit was not in the least preoccupied with her swimming career. But that state of mind would prove to be very temporary.

DETERMINED AND DEFIANT
Du Toit comes from a working-class background, and maybe that’s where she learned her stubbornness and determination. Mother Deidre, is a receptionist and father, David, is a foreman (she has an older brother André). Even the family dogs suggest a serious, no-nonsense attitude: Binga is a boxer and Storm is a rottweiler. For days, the doctors attempted to save her leg. But it was no use. They amputated through the left knee and inserted a titanium rod into her broken femur. “I remember asking my mom, ‘When are they going to amputate?’” Du Toit recalls. “My mom’s answer was that they already had.” Through the fog of medication, Du Toit absorbed the news. The next day she got out of bed. Life was calling. The pool was calling. “I just wanted to get back to life again - swimming four hours a day - and I wanted to be able to walk again so that I would be able to do things by myself,” she says. Her teammates visited the hospital. Awkwardly, they mumbled their condolences, sympathies and whatever it is a person is supposed to say at a time like this. She like the visits, but couldn’t handle the pity. So she would pull back the sheets to shock them with her half leg. Several nearly fainted. This wasn’t an angry move. But it was a defiant one.

Did people record this raw defiance in their diaries? They should have, for it was the first clue that Du Toit planned to defy all the odds that got in her way.

STILL SUCCEEDING

You will know when Du Toit is racing. You will know because the crowd is on its feet. The crowd tries to process what it is witnessing. There in the water is an amputee racing with the lead pack. The crowd cheers because the other alternative is to sit in stunned disbelief.
Natalie du Toit, now 24, is one of the world’s fastest distance swimmers, and the only amputee to qualifying for the Olympic Games. Less than two years after the accident, she qualified for the finals of the 800 meter freestyle at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, marking the first time an amputee in the modern era had raced in the finals of an able-bodied international swimming competition.

That day, Du Toit wasn’t close to winning. But that hardly mattered. She was named outstanding athlete of the Games, beating Aussie Ia Thorpe, who had won six golds, one silver, ands set a new world record. Out of necessity, she switched to distance freestyle after the accident. But although her body and events have changed, her goals haven’t. “I have always had a dream to take part in an Olympic Games, and losing my leg didn’t change anything,” she says.

When she’s not training, she’s studying sports management. She’s also doing motivational speaking because she’s become one of South Africa’s best-known stories and a source of inspiration to the country.

Just imagine what it would mean if she competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She doesn’t yet have the qualifying times, but she’s not that far off. Prior to the accident, a coach gave Du Toit an unattributed poem. She rediscovered it after her accident. Before, it didn’t mean much. Now, a laminated copy hangs on her wall, and she can probably recite it in her sleep:

The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals;
The tragedy of life lies in not having goals to reach for.
It is not a disgrace not to reach for the stars,
But it is a disgrace not to have stars to reach for.

Over the past few years I have watched the popularity of whitewater rafting grip the vacation market. “Strange”, I thought. “Why would floating down a river become such a hotly contested vacation destination?” Today, I understand this phenomena completely. There is a wisdom and lesson that only the river can teach. It is a lesson that I intend to learn as often as possible.

Whitewater rafting has become one of America’s favorite recreational activities for many reasons. There are several theories on this but I think the majority of them miss the mark. The fans argue that what makes the whitewater experience so compelling, so satisfying, and so incredibly exhilarating is that it is REAL! This primal adventure is beyond comparison. “This ain’t your daddy’s video game adventure!”

Although I consider this to be partially true. I believe that the reason that whitewater rafting has become so popular is because it teaches everyone who travels the river the most important spiritual lesson we could ever learn. All students understand the lesson while they are on the river but often forget it when they return to civilization.

On the river, all you have is the “now.” That is the ultimate high and profound lesson that the river teaches. The past and the future are of no value when you are amidst the challenge of navigating the whitewater rapids. What happened upstream or what might happen downstream are of no consequence while you become completely absorbed in the joy of the present.

NOW. It is all that there is. The river drives this message home with tremendous clarity and excitement.

Stop and think of how different life would be for you if you could apply this simple wisdom to your life. I often sit incredulously when I realize how I have let past upsets disrupt my peace of mind. That can’t happen on the river!

On the river the distinctions of past, present and future become amazingly clear. Very simply you recognize that the wake that is left behind does not navigate the raft. Likewise the future is uninteresting when compared to the exhiliaration of being totally 100% in the here and “now.”

The metaphor is quite profound.

Over the years I have watched tourists navigate the rapids and it never ceases to amaze me! When you watch a group of vacationers all get “the NOW” message together, the exhiliaration is beyond comparison as they leave the past behind and partake in the challenge of the moment. The excitement and enthusiasm is contagious and a wonder to behold.

Likewise, I often wonder how these vacationers return to their lives and if they remember the message they learned on the river?

NOW.

Every time I feel the need to make excuses I remember the lessons that I have learned on the river.

NOW.

Guess where I am headed for my next vacation?

All aboard!

NOW.

Be careful what you agree with.

Harald Anderson is the co-founder of artinspires.com a leading online gallery of Motivational Posters.”When Art Inspires, Dreams Become Realities. His goal in life is to become the kind of person that his dog already thinks he is. http://www.artinspires.com

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read

Beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree.

Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown,

For the world was intent on dragging me down.

And if that weren’t enough to ruin my day,

A young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play

He stood right before me with his head tilted down

And said with great excitement, “Look what I found!”

In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight,

With its petals all worn - not enough rain, or too little light.

Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play,

I faked a small smile and then shifted away.

But instead of retreating he sat next to my side

And placed the flower to his nose

And declared with overacted surprise,

It sure smells pretty and it’s beautiful, too.

That’s why I picked it; here, it’s for you.”

The weed before me was dying or dead.

Not vibrant of colors: orange, yellow or red.

But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave.

So I reached for the flower, and replied, “Just what I need.”

but instead of him placing the flower in my hand,

He held it mid-air without reason or plan.

It was then that I noticed for the very first time

That weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.

I heard my voice quiver; tears shone in the sun

As I thanked him for picking the very best one.

You’re welcome,” he smiled, and then ran off to play,

Unaware of the impact he’d had on my day.

I sat there and wondered how he managed to see

A self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree.

How did he know of my self-indulged plight?

Perhaps from his heart, he’d been blessed with true sight.

Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see

The problem was not with the world; the problem was me.

And for all of those times I myself had been blind,

I vowed to see the beauty in life, And appreciate every second that’s
mine.

And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose

And breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose

And smiled as I watched that young boy, Another weed in his hand,

About to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

Author Cheryl Costello Forshey