Happiness Is A Matter Of Choice By Daniel Dias

My swimming career started in 2004, on my couch, at home. That's right, on the couch. I was watching the Jornal Nacional newscast, and they aired a story on another victory by Clodoaldo Silva in the Paralympics. That's when it struck me: I could practice a sport.

I was always very active, but my experience with sport was limited to school. I enjoyed physical education and had fun playing soccer after school. I loved volleyball and basketball. I did whatever I could do.
I would inevitably break my prostheses. My mother would get angry because we lived in Camanducaia and had to travel to São Paulo, 150 km away, to get the parts fixed. As I headed off to school, my mother would warn me: "Don't play ball today." I could not resist.
It was only when I saw Clodoaldo on TV that I realized I could become a competitor myself, a professional. I was 16 years old. People say I started swimming late. To me, late would be never. I have always done things at my own pace. If there's one thing I learned in life, it is that everything happens on its own time. I only started walking at age 3, when I started using prostheses...
Let me dwell on that a little. My main achievements are 15 medals in the Paralympics (Beijing and London), ten of which are gold. I am the only Brazilian to have won the Laureus trophy, the Oscar of sports, three times. I have participated and won medals in the Para PanAmerican and World swimming championships. But my greatest trophy in sports and in life was my first prosthesis.
When I look at this prosthesis, I am reminded that that was when I started liking sports. That was when I started to want to practice them. And that will is almost all we need.
Faith and determination usually get us where we want to go. I have always accepted myself as I am. I have always been happy this way. It is all a matter of choice: I chose to be happy.
KINGSMITH