Don't Be Afraid To Eat Soup With A Fork

This unusual saying is one of my favorite quotes of all time. A little over three years ago I was multitasking cleaning my apartment and watching the post game of a NBA game on TNT. Analyst Kenny Smith was commenting on a team's defense (which I believe was the Detroit Pistons but please do not hold me to this) when he said that the team was not afraid to eat soup with a fork. I instantly knew what he was talking about because I have been eating soup with a fork for my entire life.

Even though this is one of my favorite quotes of all time this idea lay dormant in my head for several years. (Thanks for the reminder Nicole!)

Mr. Smith later went on to expound upon his point. The team had an ugly and inefficient way of playing defense but they made the most of what they had and worked so much harder than their opponents they still came up victorious most of the time.

Based on personal observation my function level (a term used to describe the severity level of my disability) seems to be quite unique even when comparing it to other people with cerebral palsy. I am blessed to have an extremely strong upper body for stationary tasks however I have some other weaknesses such as spasms and weak legs that don't match up with my upper body ability.

Because of this I cannot walk at all but I am able to easily transfer from seat to seat and I can get anywhere I need to by crawling or dragging myself across some area. I do not pull this parlor trick out every day but I figure God gave me this ability for a reason and it is my duty to use it. I know many people who would pay a great price to be able to independently get off the ground easily. So it does not bother me to use this gift to get upstairs when there is no elevator or I cannot safely get my wheelchair through an area like a curb or snow.

I've had many people look at me oddly, make fun of me or whatever else but at the end of the day who cares? At the end of the day I was the person who got to go to the party or still made it to class or that job interview even though the elevator was broken.

No matter who you are sometimes in life you don't have all the tools you need to make your dreams come true in a way society deems appropriate. If it is a dream in your heart then make it happen even if you have to go down the path ugly and inefficiently you're still going down the path!

If two people were in a soup eating contest where one contestant used a fork and the other contestant used a spoon conventional wisdom would say that the fork contestant would have no chance but that is not true. The contestant with a fork could win but they would have to work a lot harder and they might end up looking silly and messy because the liquid would fall through the fork. At the end of the competition the fork contestant still gets the trophy if he wins regardless of what he looks like.

I encourage anyone to go after their dreams because I strongly believe God gives us everything we need to accomplish them. Sometimes it might be ugly or inefficient or socially unacceptable resulting in some spilled broth but when you chase what you really want it is nourishing regardless of the utensil you use to get to the end goal.

Thanks for reading!
Chris