Jessica Cox: Four Lessons from a Champion in the Game of Life

In the game of life, we have three categories of people. We have the champions, the losers, and the spectators.
Champions are those who overcome and achieve outstanding success.
Losers are not necessarily those who fail or are defeated, or those who encounter setbacks. Even champions at one point in time or the other do fail, suffer defeat, or encounter setbacks. What distinguishes a champion from a loser is that while a champion never quits whenever he loses, a loser quits as soon as he loses or encounters setbacks.
Losers are, therefore, those who quit, and because they quit, they have no record of great achievement.
Spectators, on the other hand, are those who neither belong to the category of champions nor to the losers. They are simply watchers. They are there to watch the champions and the losers. When a person wins, they chant:”Hosanna! Hosanna!” and when a person quits, they chant: “crucify him! Crucify him! That is the spectators’ stock-in-trade.
The category you belong to determines your status in life. Yes, everybody wants to be a champion and the truth is, everybody can become a champion, provided everyone is willing to do what they champion do to win in the game of life.
Recently, in the course of my research into the lives of champions, I had cause to draw inspiration from the story of Jessica Cox, the first pilot without arms. What she uses to fly plane is her legs.
Jessica was born without arms. It was a “rare congenital disease”, though before her birth, her mother did series of tests which showed that there was nothing wrong with her.
In the midst of this disability, Jessica refused to yield to frustration and discouragement. She refused to become a spectator in the game of life; she also refused to quit.
And because she refused to quit, she recorded remarkable achievements, which many able-bodied men cannot achieve.
Below is a record of her exploits –
 She writes with her feet;
 She types 25 words per minute;
 She drives her car with her feet;
 She brushes her hair with her feet;
 She talks on her phone using her feet;
 She was a former dancer;
 She has a double black belt in Tai Kwon-Do;
 She has a no-restrictions driving licence;
 She is a psychology graduate;
 She is the first pilot with no arms; and
 Many more.
Here are two comments made about Jessica on the Internet –
1. “Wow what a warrior. She is amazing!”
2. “I thought we men we’re the ones with balls. She puts us to shame. Good on u girl.”
What lessons can we learn from this champion in the game of life?
Conquer the Wars within
To be a champion in the game of life, you must first conquer the wars within. The wars within are your feeling of helplessness, self-pity, despair, fear, feeling of inferiority, etc.
Jessica was faced with all these and more, yet she refused to surrender. Giving up is the easiest thing to do. This is the lot of losers, not champions.
You need to work on yourself. Cultivate your ability to handle your negative emotions. This is what emotional intelligence is all about. Stop complaining, stop pitying yourself, and stop giving excuses. Start looking inward to discover your potentialities and talents. These are what you should focus on. These are what you need to triumph in the game of life.
Have a Sense of Pride
People who have sense of pride never allow themselves to be pushed around to do what would lower their self-esteem.
I have seen able-bodied individual (persons who have arms and legs) ask for alms on the streets and motor parks. I have also seen youths who have taken to crimes. It is not the circumstances that make them to opt for criminal activities. They choose to become what they are, as an easy way out of their predicament.
Anthony Robbins, the great motivational speaker and writer, said: “People who succeed do not have fewer problems than people who fail.”
As a matter of fact, successful people have more problems to contend with than the unsuccessful ones. The bigger the problems or challenges, the bigger the success ahead. But it is your ability to overcome these problems or challenges that makes you a champion
Don’t surrender to problems or challenges, confront them. Draw upon your God-given abilities, potentialities, and talents. Have a sense of pride. Run away from anyting that will cause you to live a wretched, hopeless, and inglorious life.
Strive for noble deeds. Refuse to be a mediocre. Set great goals for yourself and strive to achieve them. When you have sense of pride, you will not place yourself beneath to be trodden upon by people.


Empower Yourself
In the game of life, you cannot win laurels unless you are well-prepared for the tournament.
Jessica became a champion in the game of life because she was fully prepared and contested in the game.
The starting point to becoming a champion in the game of life is empowerment. The more you empower yourself, the grater your chances of success. You can empower yourself by going to school to bag a degree in the course of your choice. If you already possess a bachelor’s degree, go for your Masters; if you are a Master’s degree holder, go for your PHD.
You can also empower yourself by going for skill acquisition training. In this ICT age, you cannot afford not to be computer literate. There are many institutes al over the placer running ICT courses. Consider computer engineering, software engineering, graphic design, web design and development. There are many other skills you can learn, depending on your area of interest, and how lucrative such skills are in your locality. So, when choosing skill to learn, consider what you are passionate about and how lucrative the skill is in your locality.
No Limitations except the Ones You Set for Yourself
Every loser in the game of life has one excuse or the other to give for his failure in life.
A champion does not give excuse for any failure or setback he suffers, because he does not believe anything can hinder him from winning in the game.
Jessica has proved that there are no limitations in the game of life. The only limitations are the ones you set for yourself. No wonder, Epictetus said: “Men are not disturbed by things but by their view of things.”
If there are limitations on your way to success, it is because of your perspective about those things that you call limitations. In practical terms, there are no limitations in the game of life. If you are limited, it is because you allow yourself to be limited by the thing you call limitation.
There is ability in disability! Jessica has proved it! The ability in you is a thousand times greater than any disability or any “limitations.”
What are those things you think are disabilities or limitations restricting you from winning in the game of life? Take a pen and a sheet of paper and write them down. Then, speak to the paper as follows: ‘From today, you are no longer limitations to my success in life. There are no such things as “limitations.” My God-given ability is a thousand times greater than you.’ After this, you tear the paper to pieces or burn it. Whenever the thought or feeling of these “limitations” comes, just ignore and refuse to believe them.
And finally, keep focusing on the thousands of things you can do and ignore the rest. Believe in your abilities and use them to the maximum.