A pain to remember

Was sitting at the parlour, nervous as ever. I was waiting for the beautician. Had threading to be done. Had grabbed an old Readers Digest copy (October 2005 Readers digest).



The cover was occupied by Bethany Hamilton. Never heard of the name. I decided to read it till my turn came up. It was a real life story of an American Surfer . She is known for surviving a shark attack in which she lost her left arm, and for overcoming the serious and debilitating injury to return to surfing. It was just three weeks after the incident, and she was already surfing again. It was so inspiring.


There might be several aspects about her life that has encouraged others to take life positively. But, it was the pain that influenced me. I was almost done with the article when I was called. Through the session, she was on my mind. A flash of pain brought me back to the world. It had always pained. But as they rightly say..."There's no gain without pain". My eyes were filled with water. But the only thought that stopped them from rolling down was my pain was nothing in front of what the "Soul Surfer" had endured. I tried to imagine myself in her place. I don't know how I would have fared. May be I would have gone down with depression. I don't know. It was unbelievable, I sat through the entire session without a drop of tear and I continue to do so even now.

A movie, Heart of a Soul Surfer - The Bethany Hamilton Movie, is in the making. Hope it brings positive change to life of all. Mine was just a case, a trivial one, I am sure there are many more who need a source of inspiration to overcome their fears and pains. Millions have and there are millions more out there waiting to learn something from her life.

A salute to her Soul.