W Mitchell : It's not what happens to you; it's what you do about it.

I have heard of this name a couple of weeks back. Then earlier this week, my colleague recommended this special talk to me. It's an inspirational talk by a speaker called W Mitchell. It was at UTAR PJ. And it's free. So I signed up for it. The title is stated above.

It a less than two hours talk. Before the emcee invited Mitchell to the stage, a lady infected with Polio first graced the stage with her inspirational advice to the audience. Her name is Catharine Lim. I was slightly irritated because she was not what I signed up for, and she was eating the time dedicated for Mitchell. But she had her fair share of experience to share; experience which is valuable for some people.

She emphasized on the importance of staying true to oneself and accepting one's own uniqueness because "there is no other Chloe," as quoted from what she said earlier this morning. Everyone should give thanks to whatever he / she believes in every morning for being able to wake up and make it through another day with good health, she advised. She also stressed on the importance of having a passion, a goal in life. And, drive that passion. Drive your passion. There is no meaning to life if there is no passion, hence she stressed the importance of having a passion and realizing it.

After roughly 20 minutes, she handed the stage over to Mitchell, who was welcomed warmly by the audience with a loud applause.

W Mitchell was a cable car gripman in San Francisco. When he was riding his motorcycle one fine day, he was hit by a truck and his body was lit on fire. He was 65% burnt. He lost part of each ten of his fingers. After a long and grueling process of recovery, he continued his life with determination. He completed his training as a pilot and he especially appreciates his first solo flight. However, it was during one of his flights when the second accident happened. His aircraft crashed on takeoff due to ice on the wing of the aircraft. An investigation showed that it was Mitchell's mistake that the accident occurred. He sustained a spinal cord injury, leaving him paralyzed waist down, sentencing him to a life on a wheelchair.

It is very unfortunate for so many bad things happening to one person. If it were me, I might end up blaming the whole world! Why me?! Why must this happen to me?! But this was not the case for Mitchell. Of course, he had his fair share of grieving period and his low times. But he decided to take control of his own life. He did not want to let all these accidents define who he was. He decided to take control of his life, to take control of what the accidents have made him into. It's a choice, his choice, to react to these incidents. And that is precisely the message that he was giving us this morning.

It's not what happens to you, it's what you do about it.

Isn't that true? A kid accidentally spills his coke on your shirt. What would naturally be your first reaction? Angry? You feel the rage of anger and spite literally building up in your body? Or, can you choose to smile at the kid and forgive him?

Of course you can! It's a choice. It's your choice. You can't predict, decide or control what life brings your way. But, you can control and decide how you react to life's unexpected obstacles. The control is in your hands.

That was basically what Mitchell was going on and on about.

It was a good talk. It was a talk so good, it got previous US President, Bill Clinton, recommending it. It was inspirational to a certain degree. Mitchell was a good speaker, humourous. He engaged the audience with his presence and he is not boring. At least not to me. However, like I said, it was inspirational only to a certain degree. Just a personal opinion.

What I want to say is, we can all take a page out of Mitchell's life. Shit happens. Life happens. So, do you want to sit there and cry and whine about why shit happens to you? Or do you want to stand up and walk away, walk to a new direction in your life and never ponder about that shit?

The decision is of course, yours.