The Superman in Us

The Superman in Us

It's great spending my weekend working on my computer from my favourite cafes in Jakarta. This morning, I spent a couple of hours working from the 24-hour Starbucks near Sarinah and later adjourned to the Internet cafe to catch up on the latest news.

It was there that I found out that Superman actor, Christopher Reeve had passed away at 52 years of age. Since his unfortunate riding accident nine years ago that made him paralyzed from neck downwards, I've had the opportunity to watch him in many interviews on TV; and everytime I was inspired by his indomitable will to live and his undying belief that one day he will be able to walk again. Besides being a very active campaigner for spinal cord and stem cell research, he had also managed to direct and act in several movies, despite his condition.

This evening I managed to catch a rerun of his interview with Tom Brooks on the BCC Hardtalk program. In the interview, he said something very interesting: he said that everyone is in a way paralyzed--if not physically, it's by fear, low self-esteem or other psychological shortcomings. It's all relative.

A physically paralyzed person may not be able to run and walk; but someone who is mentally or psychologically paralyzed is also severely handicapped in many ways. Think of all the great things that we could do in our lives if we are not limited by fear. Simply because of these often irrational fears that we harbour inside, we cannot realize our full potential and as a result, live the life of a handicapped person, confined to a mental wheelchair.

We should all follow Anthony Robbins' advice: Ask yourselves, what would you do in your life, if you know that it is absolutely impossible for you to fail? Let it all go, the sky's the limit--fantasize. Then work backwards from there to where you are now--you'll realize how much the fear of failure has held you back.

We are all living our lives, one way or another, in a wheelchair. Hopefully one day we'll have the courage to learn how to walk and perhaps even fly...

May God bless the soul of Superman, Christopher Reeve (1952-2004).