Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Meilani Hamilton-Dirksis an American professional surfer who survived a 2003 shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off, but ultimately returned to—and was victorious in—professional surfing. She wrote about her experience in the 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board. In April 2011, the feature film Soul Surfer was released ...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSurfer
Date of Birth8 February 1990
CityLihue, HI
CountryUnited States of America
Learning how to deal with people and their reactions to my life is one of the most challenging things... people staring at me, people asking rude questions, dealing with media, stuff like that.
It's easy to look at the things of this world to solve our challenges and obstacles in life, but when we submit our lives to Christ, His grace, mercy, peace and love will bring true fulfillment to our lives.
What ultimately matters is the emotions and feelings that you experienced and people around [whom] you experienced [them].
I think it doesn't matter if you are the best surfer in the world. I'm going to try to be the best surfer I can be. It's not all about competing and being the best. It's more about having fun and just doing what you love.
When I was about five, I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, and since then it's just been a stronghold in my life. Really, through the shark attack and all the hard times that my family and I went through, it gave us unity and perseverance to push through all this crazy stuff that we never knew was going to happen.
You don't need easy, you just need possible.
Learn to have patience with people, just take it one step at a time in everything that you're doing and just invest time in the people that you're with ... have patience with them, even if they're not necessarily the easiest person to work with.
Love is bigger than any tidal wave or fear.
The end...is just the beginning
Love is bigger then a tsunami, stronger then any fear.
Losing an arm is kinda lame at one point, but at the same time, so much good has come out of it.
There's no such thing as a handicap - it's all in your head
Surfing for me is more than my lifestyle; it’s my passion, my love and it’s a part of me,
Like, with one arm I know I can surf, but competitive surfing can be really frustrating, and sometimes you don't do as well as you want to. It can be discouraging at times. But whenever I do get frustrated, I just focus on God.