I’m getting old. Not sure when that happened. Do I “feel” old? Some days, for sure. Other days I still feel like I’m a kid. We all grow older with time and some of us even “grow up”. For everyone, times change, things like technology change and I can still remember learning to type on a “manual typewriter” but here I am typing this on my iPad…with my toes! But as we grow older we must move ahead and learn and
grow with the changes or we risk getting old, stagnate and stuck in the past.
In fact, I have been speaking for so long that I suspect that many of your teachers or even your parents have heard me speak at their school when they were young. My message is very much the same all these years later even though I am not the same person as I was back then.
I recently had a chat with a client and he was reminiscing about the first time he heard me speak back in 2001. I had just developed my “Alvin’s Laws of Life” and had given him a small poster of my “Laws”. He laughed when he told me that he still has that poster pinned to his office wall and it still inspires him when he’s having a rough day. Wow! That poster later became a book that I published in 2007. Never thought I’d be a best selling author when I was a teenager. And I certainly never imagined that I could motivate and inspire people for my living. But just about every day that I leave my house I meet people that heard me speak over the years. They love to share their favorite story or just remark that they never forgot my presentation or the way it made them feel and think. Leaving a legacy of helping others is the most satisfying thing I have ever done.
So, what are my “Laws”? They are little bits of wisdom I have gleamed from all my experiences growing up without arms and that have helped me to live a happy, satisfactory, successful life. I hope they are as useful for you as so many others have experienced in the past.
Alvin’s Laws of Life!
Attitude
Attitude is more than just being positive. It’s a way of looking at life, ours and everybody’s. It is said to be everything because it is everything. It defines who we are and what we become.
I believe “Attitude” is like a magnet. It can pull people and opportunities in to us, or push them away. It’s also the only real “choice” we get in life! What’s yours like?
Learning Learning is the greatest gift we give ourselves. It can transform us from nobody to somebody and is the great equalizer. To not learn as much as we can is to disrespect the gift of life. In learning, we must also ask questions. That’s good because people need to listen more and talk less. There is knowledge all
around us, we just have to listen for the answer. To listen is to learn and to learn is to grow.
I have grown to believe that education is not a “right” but a “privilege” and isn’t restricted to academics. Knowledge is power because it “empowers” us to believe we can do anything. Are you learning as much as you can?
Value
Value your life and spirit. Too many people live the other “V”, that of victim. It’s true, bad things happen to good people and there are victims. The trouble is there’s no answer to the question, “Why me?” Even worse, victims often get stuck in their past when what they need to do is live for today and move
toward the future. When you focus on moving forward, you never know what you’ll discover. Everyone has value – finding it, that’s the trick!
I am convinced the key to being born without my arms and thriving in life was not letting it handicap me and seeing my life as a blessing, not a curse. How do you see yourself and your life?
Imagination
Imagination is the key that unlocks the power of potential. It isn’t owned by the young, but they are best at using it. It defines the difference between obstacles and possibilities. Imagination leads to dreams and dreams make life worth living. Dreams can come true…this I know!
My favourite line is the one about “obstacles vs possibilities”. Let’s add to that by contemplating “problems vs solutions”! What you see is what you get!
Never Give Up!
Easy to say, hard to do. The biggest enemy will ever have we encounter every time we look in a mirror. Yet mirrors do not reflect who we truly are…our lives do!
My amazing parents were actually able to eliminate the word “can’t” from my vocabulary, and replace it with a “Yes I Can” approach to life…every single day. Can You?
A couple of weeks ago, I actually bought a new pair of hiking shoes online. It isn’t the first time I have ordered something on line and have embraced technology. Back when I was a kid in the 1970’s the arrival of the Sears Christmas Wish Book was a huge and highly anticipated event! Seeing all those different things that you could order and then have it magically appear in the mail was so exciting. Just browsing
through the catalogue imagining being able to buy anything you wanted was special. Today, we sort of get the same thrill by searching the web or visiting our favorite websites. I like to support local businesses and could have scoured the city looking for shoes but I knew exactly what I wanted so this
time I chose to save time, gas and energy by shopping on line. When my shoes showed up, the familiar blue panel van with the “Prime” logo drove away and I honestly pondered…”What if we could order a successful life online and it shows up without leaving our home”? Hmmmm?
My driver’s license (I drive by using one foot on the wheel and the other for the gas/brake) shows my birth date and indeed, I am getting old, but the principles of life success are ageless. What you give, you will get, but nobody is entitled to everything or anything for that matter and sometimes life
isn’t fair. But the personal pride that comes with trying, accomplishing your goals and earning your achievements for yourself is infinitely more valuable than anything you could order on line and have Amazon deliver to your door. Altogether let’s say…”Yes I Can”!
To learn more or book Alvin for a presentation, check out his speaking page here