Milton Erickson had polio when he was 12 years old. One day, ten months after the onset of the illness, he heard his doctor say to his parents: “I don’t think your son will be able to make it out tonight.”
Erickson, when he heard his mother crying; “Maybe if I manage to get through this night, my mother won’t suffer so much,” he thought. So he decided to sleep until the sun came up.
The next morning, his voice echoed inside the house: “Hey mom, I’m still alive!”
So great was the happiness at home that Erickson persevered for one more night to keep his parents from getting upset every day after that.
Milton Erickson passed away in 1990 at the age of 75, leaving behind many books about the great capacity people have for transcending their own limits.
