June 26, 2012

• Report # 894

  Hey everyone, I hope that you are all having a great start to the week. Summer just isn't coming here this year. There have been some decent sunny days, but nothing warm enough to be swimming in the pool and really enjoying normal summer weather. The never ending spring continues ! I really didn't do much of anything on the weekend. I just went running and for a few walks and cleaned the house. It had to be the least uneventful weekend in quite a while.

  Work has started off well this week and I now have just 28 more days of work remaining before I go to Calgary and then to Mexico. A few weekends ago I read an article in the Vancouver Sun about a man who fell from a balcony very high up and he ended up severely injured and has now spent basically 30 years in a wheelchair. After reading the article I thought back to when I was in grade 10 and someone came to the high school and give a talk.

  It was a man in a wheelchair who had told us about how he had fallen off a balcony when he was young and had ended up severely disabled. The article said that this man had given speeches in schools, so I really think it was referring to the same person who visited my school all of those years ago. At the time I was very inspired listening to the personal story of someone who went through such a life changing experience, yet not only didn't give up, but started to live his life in the best way possible.

  And beyond all that, this person not only adapted to the new challenges he faced, he fell in love with someone, they had a family, and he has been a source of inspiration for many others. A story like this shows me the power one person can have as an individual if they really choose to do something good. In some situations it's really easy just to give up, but that is never the right thing to do. While not all of us will overcome adversity and inspire thousands of other people, as long as we are giving everything we have to the life we are living, while being a good person, that's really all that matters.

  Knowing that there are some people out there who have not only been through life changing experiences, but have overcome any adversity that has been in their way, truly is inspiring to all of us. And this goes to show that despite the disabilities of people, many of those individuals are not only able to do so much more in their lives than many fully-able bodied people.... they are doing it on a day to day basis.

  So none of us should feel sorry for anyone who is disabled, we should support them and really respect them, as many of them are doing so much good in this world. So my real message here today is that we all just need to take a page out of the books of people who have been through life changing accidents and who have been able to turn their loss into something special for everyone to cherish.

  And with that being said, we should all do what we can to make the lives of people living with additional challenges easier in anyway that is possible. Whether it be lending someone a helping hand, offering your friendship, or the government working to make lives of those disabled people better, we can all do something. By helping one another, we get a better understanding of ourselves as a society, and I can imagine such valuable personal connections and friendships possible between so many different people with many stories to tell.

  I can definitely say I'm so inspired by many of these people who have done such amazing things. Whether it's those who have gone around the world in a wheelchair, spoken to so many young people in schools around the world, or athletes given the chance to compete in the paralympics. There is no shortage of inspiration for any of us to draw from. And it's just great knowing that the people who have lost part of something that we all take for granted (mobility) are able to compete and inspire the rest of us day after day. Now we must find ways to give back to them.

  For the next question:

  Is enough being done for people in wheelchairs living with disabilities ? What sort of things inspire you ?

  I will leave you all with some more pictures from the beach in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. Take care and I'll talk to you all on Friday, bye for now.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  • 9:57 pm
  • 3 Comments