How much strength does it take for someone to pick herself up after a tragic loss?
How much willpower does it take for someone to go back to the place of her worst nightmare?
To me, it takes an athlete’s strength and a survivor’s willpower.
In Soul Surfer, Bethany Hamilton is that athlete and survivor.
I have always been a big admirer of the passion and determination that athletes have for what they do. The passion that their sport is the single most important thing for them that they are willing to build not only their entire career, but their life around it. The determination to train everyday regardless of sun and rain because they are focused on the sole goal of becoming the best in what they do.
If you have watched the movie, then you would understand why I call Soul Surfer the epitome of an athlete’s spirit. This inspirational movie is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton who lost one arm from a shark attack when she was just 13 years old. The tiger shark, measuring 4.3 meters, ripped her entire left arm from shoulder down and since that traumatic day, Bethany has to live the rest of her life with just one arm.
Bethany after shark-attack.
Shark that attacked Bethany caught, identified by the imprints on the surfing board.
In less than a month from the shark attack, Bethany went back into the waters and resumed surfing again. She overcame the difficulty of paddling, balancing and surfing using just one arm. In less than 2 years, she became a professional surfer and won 1st place in the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) National Championships.
Bethany in water.
Bethany surfing.
Soul Surfer, movie based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton.
AnnaSophia Robb plays the character of Bethany in Soul Surfer.
Bethany and her family in the movie.
But Bethany is not just an athlete with only one arm, she is a girl with only one arm. Even as she was gaining her feet back on her surfboard, the girl in Bethany still struggles with the thing that all girls think about the most: love. In Soul Surfer, she said,
But people like normal... guys do… I mean, who will even like me with this? ~Bethany
This question is the question that so many girls ask themselves everyday. She may be a girl who lost her arm, leg, sight… but more often, she may be a girl with an invisible disability, a girl from a dysfunctional family, a girl who has been hurt so badly in her past relationship, a girl who strays from the ‘normal’ crowd. She is the girl who always wonders, “I am just different… I am just not good enough… I am not worth it... so who will even like me with this?”
Maybe sometimes we should just have a little faith in us and in the people around us. I am very inspired by what is said in Soul Surfer:
I don’t know why terrible things happen to us sometimes, but I have to believe that something good is going to come out of this. ~Sarah
The answer might not be directly in front of us right now, but I believe all scars will heal with time and in the meanwhile, we just have to be strong and bear the hope that everything is going to be better in the future.
Love,
Lulu
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