Apparently, selectively complaining is good for your health, which is great news for me, since complaining is like breathing to me. It's so easy to complain. I woke up this morning feeling like garbage because I put away an entire bottle of pinot noir by myself while attending a wedding between one person I vaguely know and someone else who I'm not even sure I met. Then I decided to work from bed today and when peeling back the blankets, I found a hairball because I didn't properly brush my long-haired cat yesterday so he physically became ill. See what I did there? An easy little bitch-fest created from thin air and all because of easily avoidable things I chose to do that made my life a little less pleasant. But this young girl who lost her leg is very much the opposite: Following a horrific accident that forced doctors to amputate from the knee down, Alissa Sizemore refused to quit something she has always loved—dancing. She's already up and back to dancing on her new prosthetic leg, and I'm still here complaining about my completely avoidable hangover.
Last May, Sizemore, then 7 years old, was playing outside with her sister when a wayward UPS truck in Utah rolled over her right foot. Despite being rushed by helicopter to a specialty children's hospital, doctors had no choice but to amputate. Sizemore had been a fervent jazz and ballet dancer since she was four. Being that she is clearly a tiny hero, she was not going to let her surgery limit her.
Sizemore selected Colbie Caillat's "Try" for the performance, which is pretty fitting considering the lyrics:
You don't have to try so hardYou don't have to, give it all awayYou just have to get up, get up, get up, get upYou don't have to change a single thing
This girl is 8 years old. I repeat: She is eight. And not only does she clearly have a crazy drive and work ethic, she can dance her ass off. See the performance in full below (you're going to want to skip back to the 1:45 mark again after the first view):
Sizemore, GIRL. Give up for this fierce powerhouse. And let's revisit the more jaw-dropping, badass part:
We could all learn a thing or twenty from Sizemore's relentless approach to life. She is not going to grow into an adult woman who drinks red wine heavily on Sunday nights, that's for sure. Time for me to re-evaluate some life choices.
Images: Heather Sizemore/YouTube (3)
