The hero of the day

If you would lose a limb, what would you do? I was thinking about this while watching a short movie from National Geographic. It is about the story of Makur, a man who lost a leg due to conflicts in South Sudan.

As I was watching this, I did not know whether to cry or stand in awe. A simple human explaining his emotional process while going through such an ordeal. After despair, agony, apathy and suicidal thoughts, he managed to get himself together and function normally. Next to that, he made a purpose to help other people who lost a limb to get prosthetics made by him. Exactly, a man without one leg is making replacement legs for others just like him.

It would not be fair to cry and pity such a person. No. This kind of documentaries about harsh sad happenings to humans must be watched with a tough soul and admiration. Makur is not a victim, he is a warrior. He could have sit in apathy, waiting in desolation for other's people pity looks and get constant sympathy while doing nothing. He could have been that guy who never got his life back together after tragedy hit him. There are plenty of those around though. As cruel as I might sound, our world doesn't need another victim. The world needs people to fight. To get up no matter how damaged they might be and continue the battle. For themselves.

I think it is necessary for people to realise that life is not fair all the time and nasty stuff might happen to you even if you're an angel. It is what it is. Wars, poverty, cruelty, violence, malice, injustice. These are plagues as old as Earth. Will it ever be fine and dandy? Will we live to walk on fluffy clouds of kindness, admiring the rainbows of the infinite beauty of the human nature? Maybe. Maybe not. We thought we won't get to the Moon, but look now who is going into space.

The idea is that a strong character must endure and not turn bitter. This is the greatest secret of trully successful people. Makur might not become rich or Instafamous. Newspapers might not give him a daily column as the "hero of the day". The thing that makes Makur be worthy of my admiration is that he does his thing and doesn't care about what others say or not say. He is completely dedicated to his purpose in life and nothing can make him change his mind. He has found his true calling and the possibility of being just another victim is out of the question.

Can losing a limb make you discover a strenght you did not know you even had ? Can a tragedy make you find your calling? Can failure, misery, solitude teach you something? I can confirm that it can. You learn much more from failing than from winning. You analyse yourself. You put the pieces of the puzzle together. You get why stuff is happening to you. You realise you can make changes in any moment. You are never trapped in anything as long as your mind is free.

Watch the short movie of Makur here