TURNING ADVERSITY INTO ADVANTAGE

Every human being goes through some form of adversity. You can choose to see possibilities within your adversity and prosper through it. In the words of CS Lewis: “Every Disability conceals a vocation, if only we can find it, which will ‘turn the necessity to glorious gain.” Let me introduce to you Jessica Cox who was also born without arms. The doctors do not know why she was born “differently-abled.” But she does. She was born 1983 in Sierra Vista, Arizona She has learned to live life with her feet. There were many questions at the time about whether Jessica would be able to live a “normal” life. However, Jessica’s father has said he never shed a tear about her birth condition. He had full confidence in her potential. With the support of her parents and family, Jessica became confident in herself as an adult and continued to explore the world with her feet. As a child she studied dance in her home town. When the first performance arrived, she asked to be put in the back row. Her dance teacher told her there was no back row. Tentatively she took the stage with the other students and performed her routine. When she finished, the applause encouraged her and the confidence to continue dancing for over a decade. During college, Jessica’s parents met a Taekwondo instructor named Jim Cunningham. His response when told of her birth condition was she would be more physically able and that only her attitude could hold her back. She earned her first black belt in the International Taekwondo Federation at 14years old. Jessica’s most famous accomplishment was learning how to fly. It took three states, four airplanes, two flight instructors and a discouraging year to find the right aircraft; a 1946 415C Ercoupe Airplane. She received the Guinness World Record for being the first person certified to fly an airplane with only their feet. Today Jessica works as a motivational speaker, she travels the world sharing her story and encouraging people to be creative and innovative with the mantra “Think outside the Shoe.”