Last night as I was watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics I was thinking about the athletes and everything they had gone through to get where they were. I felt a twinge of jealousy as they cut to shots of someone running or sprinting.  Running was an important part of my life physically and mentally and now I can’t even take my dog for a walk, let alone go for a run.

During every commercial break there was one advertisement after another talking about greatness and how this generation of athletes will inspire a younger generation. I think it’s incredible that these Olympians chose to push their bodies to their limits and have dedicated their lives to being the best at what they do.

I started to think about how I measure greatness and what inspires me. Osteonecrosis is a curve ball that life throws at you. It isn’t a choice. You don’t wake up one morning and say I’m going to push my body to its limits. You wake up one day, have pain somewhere and progressively your body dictates what you can and can’t do anymore. Suddenly you can’t go for a run, take a walk, drive your car, walk up a flight of stairs, pick up your child. Simple everyday things that everyone takes for granted are taken away from you.

I am inspired by Osteonecrosis sufferers who have made a choice to fight for the life they had, have reached into themselves, found a strength they never knew was within, and say to their disease, “you’re not going to define me!”

“The greatest thing a man can do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given him. This is success, and there is no other” – Orison Swett Marden

I am inspired by all your stories.