I love people who turn challenges into motivation. It's a quality that we could all benefit from and I think that 37-year-old Barbie Thomas is a fantastic example of someone who has used the physical challenges in her life as motivation and drive to achieve what some would have thought impossible. You see, Thomas lost both of her arms when she was just 2 years old. She has no arms, but that has not kept this mother of two teenagers from becoming an armless bodybuilder. She's truly AMAZING.
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At the age of two, Thomas climbed up a transformer, grabbed on the wires, and had electricity burn her arms all through the bone. She believes that having the accident at such a young age actually made it easier for her to cope. "I think it happened young enough that it was easier for me to adapt," she told Huffington Post.
Thomas has always led a very active and athletic life doing just about everything that a person with two arms is able to do. In 2000, she started training as a bodybuilder in the hopes of competing. Early on she was told by an organizer that she would never win, but that did not stop her. It's true that as of yet, Thomas has only won competitions where she was the only one competing, but she is determined to place higher. Her best placement in a competition came in March 2012 when she placed fifth out of six competitors.
What's it like for this armless bodybuilder when it comes to motherhood? Recently separated, she seems to face the same challenges that any parent would with teenagers. About how her sons treat her because she has no arms, she says, "They're teenage boys. I still have a hard time getting them to do chores."
Now she's looking into an acting career and being a motivational speaker. This woman is motivational even before she says a single word.
Images via Facebook
