Dear John,

Dwayne Pingston is paralyzed from the waist down - but not immobilized anywhere.

In 1983, when he was only nineteen years old, he avoided a head-on collision by swerving sharply to his right. In the process he hit the shoulder of the road and was thrown from the car. His neck snapped and his legs were rendered useless.

For many, that would have meant the end of hopes, dreams, activity and ambition, but for Dwayne it simply was a challenge to take what he had left and use it to maximum ability.

He has an incredible attitude. He is good-natured and unassuming and is more active than most people with two strong legs.

He's an enthusiastic fisherman and deer hunter. He plays wheelchair basketball for the Easter Seals All-American Team and helped start a basketball camp for thirty inner-city kids with disabilities from cerebral palsy to spina bifida.

He races cars at the Milan Dragway near Ann Arbor, Michigan, swims exuberantly and has helped crew a 38-foot sailboat in the Port Huron to Mackinac race.

In his spare time he restores old cars and also works for a living, holding down two jobs. He delivers custom-designed cars from Jaguar of Troy to customers across the country.

His sense of humor is incredible and he even points out advantages in having no feeling in his legs, like when he broke both ankles playing wheelchair rugby.

Does this mean that he is in denial?

No. It simply means he has recognized the fact that he is paralyzed from the waist down and will be that way for life. He can either bemoan his fate or recognize all of the things he still can do and proceed to do them.

There's a tremendous lesson here for all of us: Don't moan about what we might have lost; rejoice about what we still have.

You were Born to Win, so go ahead and Live to Win,

Tom

PS - Quote of the Day: “I’m so optimistic, I’d go after Moby Dick in a row boat and take the tartar sauce with me.” — Zig Ziglar