A lot of people (who are mostly young punks) think that the mindset of anybody who is much older than they are is generally useless and usually slow and out of date. Unfortunately for the world, those are the people who are running far too many things. But if you have the benefit of experience, you know better than to let them steal your thunder or underestimate you. After all, you were out making things happen before those little turks were even in diapers, so how could they know beans about how things have worked in the past? It is strange that people who forget the past have the nerve to act surprised when they keep on repeating it.
Fortunately, the mindset which characterized the people who lived “back in the day” was all about toughing out adversity. When people get names that are designed to make them tough (like Gertrude), that is precisely the effect that they can carry with them throughout the rest of their lives. If we had focused on naming our children “pretty” names in the early part of the 20th century, we would probably have lost the World Wars. In the past, we did not allow little things like powerful armies led by inhuman psychopaths stand in our way.
And in the very same vein, you can not allow things like having a physical challenge (because the handicap is all in your mind) stop you from achieving what you want to have in this world. If you are facing a hardship, align yourself with other people who do not have the same problems as you do. Believe it or not, there are plenty of young people whose minds are pliable, whose bodies are strong, and whose interests are in building something that will last for the long term. With their strengths plus yours, there are few things you can’t accomplish.