Adversity and Opportunity – Aimee Mullins at TED

I happened on a recent TED talk by Aimee Mullins this week. Aimee was a paralympic record-breaker at the 1996 games and she’s an amazing speaker. Her talk focussed on seeing adversity as opportunity. Since adversity of some kind or another is inevitable, it’s not whether you face adversity but how you face it:

“Perhaps if we see adversity as natural, consistent and useful, we are less burdened by the presence of it.”

Aimee’s talk also highlights the importance of giving children a message of competence, attributing her own remarkable achievements to a comment one of her doctors made to her when she was five years old. As Aimee struggled with physical therapy she hated, her doctor told her that she was such a strong little girl, he thought she might eventually break one of the bands she was using for the therapy.

Check out the video if you’re in need of a little inspiration:

"Connected Parenting advises us not just how to parent, but—far more important—who to be as parents. The therapeutic methods suggested by Jennifer Kolari are based not on simple-minded behavioural solutions, but on building warm, nurturing relationships with our children, with insight and compassion not only for their little flaws, but also for our own larger ones."
—Gabor Maté, M.D.

"A must read for parents, educators, and any other adults who want to connect in a deeply caring and positive way with the children in their lives."
—Barbara Coloroso