No excuses!

First-grader Anaya Ellick is my newest hero.

She’s the girl without hands who made news recently because she won a penmanship contest.

According to The Washington Post: “The 7-year-old does not use prosthetics, yet she does all her own writing in class. She stands at her desk and grips the pencil between her forearms. From that angle, she is able to write with perfect penmanship.” The writing sample accompanying the article is much neater than I or many people could manage.

Clearly, this child doesn’t look at her circumstances and say “I can’t.” And given that Anaya has tried something one might think would be impossible for her and can write really well, the rest of us should not be making excuses when a challenge comes our way.

When I’m teaching juggling, I never let the students say, “I can’t.” I tell them they have to say, “I can’t do that yet.” In part, that is because I know that if I, the queen of the uncoordinated people, could learn to juggle, pretty much anyone can. And, also, I know saying “I can’t,” actually can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. “I can’t” is terminal. “I can’t do that yet” leaves open the possibility that the “can” will happen later.

Even though I’ve been preaching to jugglers in training for years, sometimes, I don’t practice what I preach when it comes to my own life. Reading about Anaya has reminded me that I need to challenge what I think are my limitations.

For the full story about Anaya in The Washington Post, go to http://tinyurl.com/h3jybgx.

Maybe it will have the same effect on you.