February 16, 2023 | Read Online

The Other Halftime Star

We can’t always control our circumstances or what happens to us, but we always have power over how we choose to respond.

Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Rihanna dominated headlines following one of the more memorable Super Bowls ever — but there was another performer Sunday we can all draw from.

Justina Miles, a 20-year-old college student, became the first deaf woman to ever perform at the game — putting forward a passionate interpretation of Rihanna’s lyrics during one of the most-celebrated halftime shows in recent years.

Miles, a Philadelphia native who’s currently a student at Bowie State University, was born hearing impaired and garnered lots of attention in 2020 for her creative sign-language interpretations of a popular TikTok challenge.

“I value the opportunity to make it possible for all deaf people to enjoy these songs, and not have them miss out on the full Super Bowl experience,” Miles said.

There’s a valuable lesson in her mentality for us.

Often times, we receive bad news and develop a victim mentality.

We get laid off, endure a breakup or suffer some other painful defeat that causes us to lament our terrible luck and wonder why this had to happen to us.

But a select few take their misfortune and turn it into an opportunity they otherwise wouldn’t have been afforded.

After generating attention for her dances three years ago, Miles became Valedictorian at her high school her senior year, earned a silver medal in track at the deaf Olympics and has served as an inspiration for countless other hearing-impaired teens.

Ultimately, her story is a good reminder that we can’t always control our circumstances or what happens to us, but we always have power over how we respond.

And while many freeze in the face of adversity, the most successful among us find a way to keep it moving.