Turn Adversity

into Opportunity

Sometimes life throws us challenges that test our

resilience
and threaten to keep us stuck in a rut of regret.
Lloyd Bachrach knows this all too well: he was born
with
a congenital bone deficiency that made his lower
limbs so
unusually small that doctors told his parents he should
be
institutionalized. When his parents insisted that they
were
going to take him home, they were warned that he
would
never be able to have a normal life. “He’ll find his
way,”
his parents responded.
Lloyd’s parents encouraged him early on to figure
out how to do things on his own and refused to coddle
him. To the amazement of his doctors, he learned how
to
crawl without the use of his legs. He became
progressively
mobile and, despite his severe disability, attended
public
school when he became school age. Lloyd’s attitude
from
the beginning was one of no regrets for the cards he’d
been
dealt in life. “You can’t miss something you never
had,”
he’d say. Lloyd also adopted a motto that embodied
his
can-do approach: “It doesn’t matter what you don’t
have—
just use what you do have to pursue your goals.”
Lloyd’s goals included becoming a top athlete. He
developed
his upper-body strength by swimming, and then he
learned to play baseball. Although he couldn’t run very
fast
on his small legs, he taught himself to scoot around
the
bases at lightning speed by using only his arms and
dragging
his legs behind him. Then he took on gymnastics and
was a serious competitor throughout high school, so
much
so that in his senior year he placed fifth in the state
tournament.
When asked how someone who was a disabled
person could be such a formidable opponent to other
able-bodied athletes, Lloyd said, “I’m not disabled, I’m
differently abled.” The apex of his athletic career,
though,
was when he played on the USA sit-volleyball team in
the
1996 Paralympics in Atlanta. Now Lloyd, who is
married
and has two daughters, is a frequent motivational
speaker
at schools and organizations.
Lloyd’s incredible story is a testament to his no-regrets
attitude and tenacity around turning his adverse
situation
into an opportunity. Instead of using his disability as a
source of regret, he has used it as a reason to do
things
that others never suspected he could accomplish. This
has implications for people without disabilities as well.
For
instance, we all have found ourselves in situations
where we
were at a disadvantage, whether we were vying for a
job
when other applicants were more qualified, taking a
class
in school that wasn’t in our strong suit, or playing in a
competition where the opponent was more skilled. Do
we
get mired in regret about the fact that we are at a
disadvantage,
or do we look for creative ways to play to our
strengths?
The next time you are confronted with adversity, think
about how you can turn it into an opportunity.
Consider
your unique gifts and be innovative in finding
solutions.
Look at the possibility for success as opposed to the
chance
for failure. Believe in yourself and have the confidence
to
embrace the situation. Turn adversity into an
opportunity
and face your challenges head-on.