(DISCLAIMER: this is very emotionally charged piece, so pregnant women and young children are adivsed not to read it!!! )
"Pain excites me."."
these are the words a man who has stared death in the face and come back to conquer the world. Yupp , the texas born Lance armstrong is the guy i am referring to. last semseter , when i had to make a presentation on a personality, i chose armstrong and since then he has been my role model in my life. a week ago , a friend of mine gave me his autobiography to read ,knowing very well that i would instantly love the book! the book captured my imagination, and gripped me completely. At certain stages in the book when Lance describes the his fight to survive, i actually had goosebumps! the sheer nakedness with which he describes the pain and the suffering and also the ecstasy he experiences with every single victory, both, in life and on the cycling track. Many people think that Lance never gave up through the course of his tussle with cancer, but this not true. He was so distraught with life that he was satisfied with becoming a burger eating house husband who would play golf on weekends. This was natural, and expected of anybody who has just miraculously survived death( he was given a less than 50% chance of survival , but in reality the situation was much worse and Lance was informed later about it.)
But, Lance was no ordinary guy. Ya he felt lost, but when he was made to realise that he survived and he had life to live, he came back much stronger and became more mature. From being at the bottom of the cycling world , it took him less than 2 years to regain the number one spot in cycling. But that was not enough for him, because , he yet could not convince himself and the world that he had recovered completely. the Tour de France, became his ultimate goal in life. the race is one of the most gruelling sporting events in the world,and it tests you both mentally and physically.
Well the rest is history and so i shall say no more.
on sunday night when mark boucher hit brett lee to the fence and South Africa had achieved the unthinkable, it just made me a stronger believer in Lance 's motto in life:NEVER QUIT!