Oksana Master wasn't dealt the best cards; there were barely any cards at all. Born during the radiation outbreak in Ukraine, she was born with major birth defects,
My left leg is shorter than my right by six inches, and it arcs in a C-shape. I have six toes on each foot–a fact that I’m quite proud of–and my feet are different sizes. My hands are different, too, each with five fingers instead of a thumb, and all webbed…I’m missing the weight-bearing bones below my knees, which make walking awkward and slow on the bones I do have in there. I was also born missing the enamel on my teeth, part of my stomach, my right biceps and one Kidney. The other kidney sits in the wrong spot in my body.
Her differences made her feel less than, an outlier. As she aged, her insecurities only worsened when she had to amputate both her legs above her knee, not to mention the trauma she carried from being abused and mistreated in an orphanage throughout her childhood.
Happiness, that fuzzy, exciting feeling in the heart was something Oksana can't remember feeling much, if at all. It wasn't until she was around eight, when her adopted mother took her home for the first time that she remembered going to bed with a smile on her face.
That happiness expanded when she found the sport of rowing. It was an activity, a thing, a sport that could get her away from the world. No thinking. No worrying. No stressing. Just getting lost on the water. That feeling, with time, expanded.
A hobby turned into a passion, which led her down the path, with decades of work, toward the Paralympic games. After multiple appearances in the games, she had an important conversation with a sports psychologist.
“I can see that you’re very determined," the sports psychologist told her.
I have a lot of passion," Oksana said.
“When you say passion though, what do you think that means? What do you actually feel when you’re pushing through a training session? What are you drawing on when you’re deep into a race?”
“It’s more like anger,” she explained to him.
"I have an exercise for you…Hold your hands out. I’m going to push down on them, and you think about what makes you mad."
After performing the exercise, they did the same thing. This time "think of something that makes you feel warm and happy inside," the sports psychologist said.
The second time, when Oksana was thinking about the things that brought her joy--her mom, rowing, teammates, coaches--she resisted for twice as long compared to when she thought about what made her angry.
That's the power of a purpose fueled by love. It's sustainable. It's always there. It never runs out.
As the sports psychologist explained to Oksana, “When you’re happy, your muscles are more relaxed. When you’re angry, your muscles are tense, and they’re overworking. Your body is so much more powerful when you’re filled with love and light.”
When you live in a way fueled by hate--trying to prove someone wrong--there's an endpoint. Once you get there, the anger or the thing that fueled the anger is gone. With no anger, that passion you had, which was strong and powerful, has lost its energy source.
When what you do is fueled by love--love for the activity or love from others--that joy and excitement will always be there. There's sustainability--the key to doing anything difficult because anything challenging takes time and more time than you think.
Reflect on what's fueling you. Anger is powerful. but it's like lighting a match. It starts strong, but with time, it will get weaker and eventually run out. Love though, love is everlasting. If you do the thing because you love the thing, that never leaves. And when the fuel that's driving you is always there, you'll go farther than even you could imagine.
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You can check out the podcast on Oksana Masters for a deeper dive into her life and greatness.
You can check out other episodes of the Greatness Podcast, where I dive into the lives and stories of the world's greatest individuals.
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