The next time you're having a bad day, try missing one. The next time you think your spouse or your friend talks too much, try going deaf. The next time you complain about the way someone dresses or looks, try going blind. The next time you think the walk from the parking lot into the store is too long, try doing it on one leg. Most of us take life's riches for granted.

There's an eight year old kid named Adam Bender from a small town in Kentucky who has only one leg. If you think the obstacles you have in your life are overwhelming, try playing catcher on a baseball team with only one leg.

I've previously written about my fellow professional speaker Jim Abbott, who learned to pitch with one arm. Remarkable as that feat is, Abbott at least has both feet, which allows him to do most things very well. He mastered the art of pitching and catching with one arm.

Adam Bender lost his left leg to cancer when he was only a year old. Not only does he catch, he was also a quarterback in football, taking snaps from the shotgun formation and firing lots of touchdown passes. He even caught a touchdown pass despite being double covered as he hopped into the end zone. He has played YMCA flag football and soccer. Nothing seems to faze this kid.

Adam tried using prosthesis but pitched it when he found it actually slowed him down. He refuses to use a wheelchair and only uses crutches to run the bases. His thought is simple- anything you can do I can do better, or at least as well.

There will be a day when Adam won't be able to keep pace but at least for the moment, he has enjoyed a normal childhood participating in sports like other kids his age. What an inspiration to those of us who have all our limbs but who complain about this or that.

Hooray for Adam's parents, Michelle and Chris Bender. They were smart enough not to hover and protect their son, one of three children. They don't micromanage his life or his feelings. By not sheltering him, they've allowed him to learn how to deal with stuff.

When an opposing runner rounds third, Adam holds his ground at the plate, which actually cost him a mild concussion on one collision, causing him to miss a couple of practices. He was back on the field for the next game and actually led the rookie league in put-outs at home.

In the batters box, he makes good contact and hops down to first base. If he's safe, he uses crutches to run the bases. He wants to live a normal life just like his older brother Steven and younger sister Morgan. And make no mistake; he's just as competitive as any kid in the league. When he makes an out, he hops dejectedly back to the dugout.

There aren't many things you can do in sports with only one leg. Adam Bender never saw himself as having "only" one leg. He sees himself as being remarkably competitive… "despite" having only one leg.

My coach and mentor, the late J.W. Ingram always taught us that showing up is the name of the game. Another great catcher, Yogi Berra, once quipped that "90% of this game is half mental." To paraphrase, 90% of competing is showing up. 100% of the time you don't take the field you're never going to win.

Adam Bender not only shows up but he competes with the best of them. And while winning is important to Adam, I suspect it's more important to him that he be able to participate.

On the gridiron at West Point, NY there is an inscription quoting General Douglas MacArthur that says: "On these friendly fields of strife are sewn the seeds that on other fields and on other days are borne the fruits of victory."

On Veterans Field in a small town in Kentucky, a one-legged kid by the name of Adam Bender is sewing seeds of motivation that will bear fruits in the lives of people all over. Thank you Adam for proving to us that nothing is impossible- if we just believe it!