Questões Militares Sobre inglês

As the Olympics Approaches, a Lesson in Overcoming Adversity

Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD

July 20, 2016

      I've known a lot of athletes who qualified for the Olympic Games ,______injuries. But I know of only one who qualified because of an injury.

      Cliff Meidl’s story captures the spirit of the Olympics.

      In November 1986, Cliff, a 20-year-old plumber's apprentice, hit three buried high-voltage electrical cables with a jackhammer. An estimated 30,000 volts surged through his body, exploding bone and cartilage from the inside ail the way up to his head. To put that into perspective, electric chairs use only 1500-2000 volts for executions. So it's safe to say that Cliff should have died.

      And he nearly did. His heart stopped. Paramedics were able to get it going again, but they had to resuscitate him on the way to the hospital.

      As part of a team with renowned plastic surgeon Malcolm Lesavoy, MD, and others, I got to work reconstructing Cliffs legs. Our best hope was to avoid amputation.

      But very quickly, we noticed something else going on - something that had nothing to do with our expertise. Through every step of his painful rehabilitation, Cliff grew more and more determined. He never complained. He just asked, "What's next?"

      Before he had even finished the rehabilitation, Cliff started paddling various watercrafts. The days spent on crutches had already strengthened his upper body, and he took naturally to the sport. The same year in which he was injured, he began competing in canoe and kayak events, and in 1996 he qualified for the Olympics - not the Paralympic Games, the Olympic Games.

      Four years later, in Sydney, Australia, I was overseeing the sports medicine team at the Olympic soccer tournament. I was sitting in the stands during the opening ceremonies when Cliff walked into the Olympic Stadium carrying the Stars and Stripes.

      It's a long-standing tradition for delegations of athletes to select one among their number to bear the flag, and the choice often symbolizes some extraordinary accomplishment. I had no idea that Cliff would be selected. So when he strode into the stadium with a normal gait, I nearly broke down.

      Moments like that reinforce what I have always believed: that sport can bring out the best in us all.

      The Olympic Games (...) are devoted to celebrating the human capacity to improve body, mind, and soul.

      They are about taking part - not necessarily about winning. Cliffs peers in the US delegation of 2000 recognized that when they elected him to bear the nation's colors. He never won a medal at the games, but the spirit with which he overcame adversity inspired all of them.

      The Olympic motto - faster, higher, stronger - can help our patients realize that the real victory is the "win within." The Win Within: Capturing Your Victorious Spirit is the name of the book I wrote to show people that coming back from adversity is part of our heritage - that we as human beings are more adapted to adversity than we are to success.

      Adversity is the engine of unimagined opportunity. It can unleash our energy and stimulate our will. It moves us to succeed. If I don’t have food, I have to go get some. If I’m cold, I have to build a shelter.

      I remind patients who don't participate in sports that they have the heritage of athletes. We all have the genes of pursuit-hunters who survived by running down their prey and running away from their predators. That's why even now, in 2016, when we go out and take a run, we feel good. We get an endorphin surge and our lipids go down. Our hearts and brains become clear.

      The life of sport and sport of life are interlinked. Exercise is our birthright; it's our legacy; it's why we are here.

      We no longer have to fear saber-toothed tigers or cave bears. But when you look today at how people can be successful in 2016, it's by avoiding the predators in our urban life: overeating, inactivity, and smoking. And it's by rising to meet adversity.

(Adapted from http ://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/866279) 

Too many third graders can’t read this sentence

9 Feb. 2017- Editor's Picks

      Two-thirds of U.S. third graders face challenges that will impact their future, including academic struggles that could lead to dimmer academic and career prospects. Sadly, only one in three U.S. students demonstrates reading proficiency at the end of third grade. This has alarming consequences for these children, and for our country.

      A report released today from the Business Roundtable (BRT) sheds light on this troubling trend in American education, and advises business leaders on how they can help put more children on a path to success.

      (...)

      I’ve heard it said that before third grade, students are learning to read, while after third grade, they’re reading to learn. Grade three is a critical crossroads in a life's journey. If you’ve read this far, then you understand why this is so important. Not enough of our young learners can say the same.

      I encourage you to read the BRT report. As you read, please consider ways to help our schools and our teachers keep students on paths to bright futures.

Leave your comments below

Michel Jonas

      Really, all I read was blabla wa wa wa. Are you Charlie Brown’s teacher? If we can't understand our children who are crying out for help and direction, then there is something wrong with you. Please go back and check yourself! They are worth so much more.

Rick Shire

      Thanks for sharing. With two young children, I increasingly think about the importance of early childhood education. Pre-k care is far too inaccessible, ultimately magnifying inequality from the earliest stages of life.

Tom Franks

      What exactly is education? Academic education doesn't make someone a better person or even a better employee, I would guess that anything we learn in the education process is at the most 10% useful to us as people. Education should teach academia but also life skills such as budgeting, EQ skills, languages etc., all the elements to be a successful person and not necessarily a successful professional.

(Adapted from https ://www.linkedin.com)