"I Wonder What God Is Going To Do with This": Roger Crawford, Pt. 1

"The snug fit made it possible for Roger to swing, serve and volley like an able-bodied tennis player. He practiced every day and was soon playing and losing matches.

But Roger persisted. He practiced and practiced and played and played. Surgery on the two fingers in his left hand enabled Roger to grip his special racket better, greatly improving his game. Although he had no role models to guide him, Roger became obsessed with tennis and in time he started to win.

Roger went on to play college tennis, finishing his tennis career with 22 wins and 11 losses. He later became the first physically handicapped player to be certified as a teaching professional by the United States Professional Tennis Association.

"Roger now tours the country, speaking to groups about what it takes to be a winner, no matter who you are. 

"The only difference between you and me is that you can see my handicap, but I can't see yours. We all have them.

When people ask me how I've been able to overcome my physical handicaps, I tell them that I haven't overcome anything.

I simply learned what I can't do—such as play the piano or eat with chopsticks—but more importantly, I've learned what I can do. Then I do it with all my heart and soul."...

I put down the book. I was sobbing, a hobby that I had grown comfortable doing. Only this time, I was sobbing tears of hope instead of tears of frustration. I realized that the pebble in my shoe was just that. A pebble in my shoe.

If Roger Crawford can win 66 percent of his intercollegiate tennis games on only one leg. If Roger Crawford can get dressed every morning with no hands. If Roger Crawford can walk outside each day amidst stares and questioning looks. Then I can get out of bed today and try to start living again.

Thanks to Roger, I no longer had the feeling of not wanting to play anymore. I actually wanted to compete and to win in this game we call life.

I got out of bed and grabbed a highlighter in hopes of capturing the key points in the Roger's highlighted Roger's story and used it to motivate me daily. Each day. Every day.

I highlighted nearly every word on every page.  I reread Roger's story until I had it forever etched in my heart and my soul. My story continued, because of Roger's story.

I recently called Roger Crawford out of the blue and told him my story. In exchange for mine, he told me his.

Roger spent nearly two hours on the phone with me on one day and then called me back a couple days later to continue with our interview. A nice man you will NEVER meet.

My story continued because of Roger Crawford's story. 

And this story, too, will continue...

The completion of "I Wonder What God Is Going To Do With This": Roger Crawford will appear on Sunday, April 19 on Bleacher Report.

"Everybody Can Do Something" was excerpted from Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Chicken Soup for the Soul is on the NY Times Best Seller list and can be ordered at ChickenSoupfortheSoul.com.

Roger Crawford's books How High Can You Bounce? and Playing from the Heart, as well as more motivating stories of Roger's life, can be found at www.rogercrawford.com.

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