Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose! Not only is that the catch-phrase of my all-time favorite TV series, Friday Night Lights. But those are the words that I try to live by in my everyday life. Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose! is exactly the mindset that we should all adopt. I see and hear of too many people in my generation that just want to give up. If everything isn’t handed to them, then they want no part of it. Having been born with Cerebral Palsy, myself, it has not always been easy. There have been a number of times that I have wanted to just throw up my hands and give up. But had I done that, what would that say about me? I have never striven to be an ambassador for persons with Cerebral Palsy. But I have always striven to be the best person that I could possibly be. Ironically, I have often blamed my inability to do certain things on having Cerebral Palsy. It is very easy to blame a disability as the reason for not giving it your all. The fact of the matter is that having a disability should make you want to strive even more to be the best that you can be. We must use what God has given each of us as a tool to motivate and inspire others. Trust me, I know all to well what it is like to feel hopeless and want to give up. Born with Cerebral Palsy, treated like an alien because of it. Tack on my mother being murdered, and my wife going through life-threatening breast cancer. So I know! I know how many of you feel. But you just can’t give up. Keep pushing through whatever struggles that you are going through. There really is a light that shines on the other side of this hell that plagues you. Do not ever take the easy way out. Do not ever just give up by saying it is too hard. Anything in life worth having requires hard work! How much do you want it? How much are you willing to put in the work to achieve it? Whatever it is in life that you want, I fully believe it is achievable. You just need to want it bad enough to make it happen. And remember, albeit a fictional character, in a fictional TV series, these mighty words spoken by the great Coach Eric Taylor of the Dillon Panthers….”Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!”
