Insight
Beyond Boundaries: The story of Elcirley Luz Silva and our shared journey of resilience
Sometimes, life challenges us in the most unexpected ways, testing our capacity to rise again. This month's story is of a fighter to whom all of us could relate once in our life : Elcirley Luz Silva, a paraplegic jiu-jitsu champion.
Luz Silva is a man whose leg stopped carrying him after a fatal accident. He had to learn rebuilding his life and how to adapt to his disability. His quest for a new normal life led him back to jiu-jitsu training. Through his practice, he not only healed his body but also found mental strengh as he adapted to the techniques.
Silva’s journey led him to an important mission while earning a black belt : adapt jiu-jitsu training for disabled individuals and provide them with a platform. A platform to showcase their skills and demonstrate that jiu-jitsu is truly for everyone.
The repetition of physical activities made him adapt, achieve another level of balance that compensated for the absence of the lower left limb, thus building a new level of self-confidence.
Elcirley came to our jiu-jitsu club a few months ago to give us a training session. It was amazing meeting him and to see how he could submit the most advanced fighters in the class with only one leg! Watching him move and control the matches was a real eye-opener. It showed us all that what really matters is the strength inside and the determination to face any challenge.
Finding Light in Darkness
I have been thinking a lot about Luz's silva lately. For 5 weeks, I was training to perform my first Olympic triathlon in Abu Dhabi. But just when the race was within reach, a week away from the day, fate took a sharp turn. A fall from my cycle led to a broken collarbone, and with it, the shattering of my goal. All vanished in a moment, leaving me uncertain about my near future capabilities.
The physical pain was just one facet; the mental battle that ensued was the real deal. Goals set for the first quarter, visions of crossing the finish line, the euphoria of achieving what I had loudly voiced—all fell apart.
For Elcirley, every day on the tatami is a day spent pushing boundaries. And for me, as I remembered him and researched how he embraced his journey, I realized that my fall was not the end but a different beginning. Elcirley's perseverance echoes in me during my on going recovery, urging me to look beyond the injury and towards the horizons of what still could be.
These life events remind me of the mantra of the famous actor Michael Caine. While rehearsing in his early days, he told another actor he couldn't get by the chair to enter the room in the scene. The other actor's response: "Use the difficulty...if it's a comedy, fall over it, if it's a drama, pick it up and smash it."
As with everything in life, control the controllable: The difficulty is already there, you can't control it. You can control how you react to it. You can control your response to it. You can control your attitude towards it.
Lesson: Difficulty is inevitable. Use it.
I'm still recovering from my injury, and I won't be able to train for a while. But seeing what achievers could do gives me another perspective. It reminds us that pauses in our journey don't mean the end of it. We always come back, with often a better version of ourselves.
I share these stories to light a spark of inspiration. Whether it's Elcirley's triumphs on the mats or my own road to recovery, the message is clear: our spirit knows no bounds, and the will to surpass ourselves can show us new horizons.
I hope many of you can relate and turn setbacks into success. Keep dreaming, pragmatically !