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There was a man named Paul Alex who survived polio in the 1950s, but the disease disabled most of his body. Unable to breathe on his own, he lived in an iron lung, dreaming of one day escaping it. But everyone told him, "No, you can't." But he began thinking that God was bigger than his problem. And he did learn to breathe on his own. And he did get out of that iron lung. And then he wanted to write, but because his hands were disabled, he learned to hold a pencil in his mouth. He wrote poetry and he wrote a novel. He went on to college and became a lawyer. And he helped draft laws to make life better for those with disabilities. Few of us will ever face the difficulties of Paul Alex. But we can all achieve greatness, as he did, by challenging that voice that says, "No, you can't."

Mary Manin Morrissey

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