Magic Legs

September 14th, 2023

THROWBACK THURSDAY: This blog article was originally written on World MS Day 2022

I have slightly edited it but left most of it as is.

I hope it provides you with some inspiration and self reflection in your own life no matter where you're at in your journey.

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Despite what some of you may think about my energy on video ( some people love it others sometime think I talk too loud) it's always coming from a place of passion and it does not always come naturally to me, I have my moments just like everyone else where I feel down and need to find ways to lift my energy.

Besides a great exercise workout, one of my favorite ways to get inspired to create meaningful motivational videos is to listen to music or watch underdog or comeback movies.

Nothing is more powerful to me than following a main character or cast of characters chasing after their dreams and persevering despite being met by adversity, setbacks, loss, discouragement, and failures on the way to their destiny.

An all-time favorite underdog movie of both my biz partner Ken and I is Forrest Gump, it’s AMAZING.

The entire film is a roller coaster of emotions as you watch a mentally challenged man named Forrest experience discrimination, isolation, heartache, adventure, victory, and loss.

One of the most captivating characters in the movie is a man named Lieutenant Dan.

Forrest meets this brash, arrogant, emotionally abusive man on a tour of duty during the Vietnam war.

Even though he mocks, berates, and insults Forrest because he is a bit “slow,” the tender-hearted Forrest, loves him any way and calls him friend.

A HUGE turning point in the movie for Lieutenant Dan is when his legs are blown off by a land mine during a battle scene and Forrest carries him out of the jungle saving his life.

We next see Dan, a proud, stubborn warrior lying crippled in a hospital bed waiting to die while his good friend Forrest offers him an ice cream cone.

Dan takes the ice cream and dumps it in his bed pan as he wallows in the resentment that every man in his family before him valiantly died in battle and he was robbed of his destiny and angry at Forrest for saving his life.

We next see Dan sitting in his wheelchair on the dock of a river where Forrest is the owner of a shrimp boat business.

When Forrest sees Dan, he leaps into the water, fetches him, and brings him aboard as his first mate.

After living in a world of bitterness and hatred for many years, Lt. Dan’s appreciation for life is restored on the water.

 A second powerful moment comes when Lt. Dan gruffly thanks Forrest for saving his life and then jumps into the water and begins to swim while looking up at the sky.

Forrest’s voice narrates that Lt. Dan, finally made his peace with God as years of hate were washed away by the water and replaced by an ACCEPTANCE of his new path.

Today on World MS Day, the thing I most want o say to you is this: It is vital to ACCEPT AND RECEIVE where you are right now in order to move forward and change your life.

At the same time know that it is TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE, NECESSARY, & VALID to be upset about all that MS has taken from you.

HOWEVER, in order to heal and counteract MS, you cannot stay paralyzed by bitterness, resentment, and fear of how your life has “turned out” like Lt. Dan did.

In order to find your HEALING POWER and counteract MS, you must let go of your past losses, accept where you are RIGHT NOW, BELIEVE you can heal, and then DECIDE that you want to change your life TODAY.

At the end of Forrest Gump, we see a clean-shaven, well-dressed Lt. Dan walking with his new prosthetic legs, which Forrest refers to a “magic legs.”

With his fiancé by his side, Lt. Dan displays a new vision for his life and he lifts his head, looks at Forrest, and gives him a big ol’ smile.

The underdogs won.

Much like Lt. Dan, you and the rest of your MS Gym family have had a lot taken from you.

Your life as you once saw it may not have come true in the way YOU thought it would.

You have struggled and triumphed through the ups and downs of your MS life and there have, no doubt, been days where you wanted it all to end.

However…EVERY SINGLE one of those experiences CAN become part of YOUR victory story.

You have what it takes to overcome MS, live a NEW life, and write a NEW story.

No matter where you are at today, it can all change for the better when you have the right tools, people, and guidance in your hands.

Movement can re-train your body.
Mindset can re-train your brain.
Education can reduce the fear of the unknown.

You are a champion. You are my hero. You are MY ATHLETE. 

You have the strength to change your life today and take action because WHY NOT YOU?

RISE | Move | Heal

Trevor

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