Category Archives: Life in a wheelchair

Life in a wheelchair, Motivational

We all have issues but do you know yours?

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My physical weaknesses are fairly apparent. I can’t walk and I have fairly limited motor skills. These are probably obvious to anyone who meets me. What they may not know is that I have mental weakness as well. I have self Image issues, as well as occasional doubt about my self worth. I know that I have these issues. Knowing means that I am aware of the aspects of my life that need  work.

Like me, you have some fairly obvious weaknesses. Some of them you may not be able to do anything about. I can’t do anything about my cerebral palsy. That’s completely out of my control. I will always need help, dressing, showering, etc. What I can work on is believing that I am worthy. Knowing that I’m a good man, and understanding that the way that someone reacts to me, my chair, my looks, my approach to life is not my problem. I have felt rejected many times in my life. I felt that the rejection was somehow my fault. I pushed too hard, was around too much, As I get older I’m learning that when this happens it’s rarely my fault. Knowing this doesn’t make rejection easier to take but it helps to combat my self-doubt. It has taken me years to understand why I have self doubt. For a long time I thought I was broken, that women treated me badly because I had done something to deserve it. That maybe I wasn’t good enough to do a certain job, or speak at a certain place. As I have said in previous posts, it’s very easy to get depressed and let self-doubt take over. Knowing who I am. and reminding myself that my doubt isn’t rational keeps me level, and allows me to focus on what I can control.

We all have weaknesses, places we struggle. Knowing and understanding yours, may not change your life, but ultimately it will make you stronger. We all have issues but do you know all yours?

 

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Life in a wheelchair, Motivational

Bullies can only do as much as you allow

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Life is so much more complicated for kids in school today then it was when I was going up. I’ve had lots of people ask me if I was ever picked on because of my chair. It may surprise you but I wasn’t. There are two reasons for this. The first is that I think most boys were afraid of me. If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty outgoing, and I give as well as I get,

If anyone ever came at me with taunting or whatever, I came back at them just as hard. I also think I didn’t get picked on because no one wanted to be seen picking on a disabled kid. I was always popular, I wasn’t the best looking guy, I didn’t have a lot of money, I just knew how to talk to people. In those days, people thought my chair was special. They had more fun rolling with me, (yes that pun was intended) then picking a fight.

It’s not that easy for kids these days, there are pressures and expectations that I and other adults have no concept of. That said, do the best you can every day to be good to the kids around you. If you do have a run in with a bully, use every resource at your disposal to handle this situation the right way. The teachers around you have your back everyday. Trust them, they have your best interest in mind. You are a gifted and special, and can change the world like no one else. Don’t let everyone tell you any different.

Life in a wheelchair

I feel the need, the need for speed

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I don't even want to think about what fuel would cost
I don’t even want to think about what fuel would cost

 

When I got into high school and got my power chair, I was constantly being told to SLOW DOWN. I never understood this. If you had to sit in a chair with the motor on it, why wouldn’t you go as fast as possible all the time?

Okay I admit it, I’m a guy and I love things that go fast. I loved Top Gun, as a kid(still do really) and The Fast and The Furious movies. I love anything that I could possibly die while doing. Roller coasters, homemade airplanes built from a kit,(yes I’ve ridden in one) I love it all. I’ve even gone skiing. That was a blast. People ask me if I would like to race a lot.(I think they truly believe that I can hit a button on my joystick, and afterburners and will pop out like the picture above). The truth is most chairs only do 4 miles an hour(I’m pretty sure most of you can walk faster than that). I do not have a chair that will do 8 miles an hour but it’s big and the battery drains quickly.

I think those people that always told me to slow down were afraid I was going to lose control and mow someone down. It could happen I guess, but I don’t really see it. On the other end of the spectrum every guy that I grew up with, who had any mechanical skills at all, wanted to soup up the chair. (if I hadn’t been afraid of being grounded until the end of time if something went wrong, I probably would have let some of them do it.)

I’ve often thought that electric wheelchair racing should be an actual sport, with pit crews and sponsors just like NASCAR. The cool thing about it would be that you can actually see your favorite driver as they went around the track.(The advertisers would actually get their moneys worth). if that were a real thing I think, I would be really good at it. Yeah I know, I’ve got too much time on my hands, but you have to admit it’s a great idea.

This has been Wheelchair Wednesday

 

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Life in a wheelchair

I STILL want to be like Mike

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Greatest ever
Greatest ever

I love sports, always have. I’ve never been able play them, but they have always captivated me. I think it all started with Michael Jordan. When I was a kid, he was the closest thing to a real life superhero that I knew. I couldn’t walk but he could fly. At that time you could catch all the Bulls home games on WGN. For about seven years I’m pretty sure I saw every single one. He made me feel like anything was possible. He is the greatest to ever play no discussion,

When I was 18 years old, my mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday. By this time Michael was in his last year with the bulls and I knew I had witnessed greatness. I told her I wanted a pair of Air Jordans. This was a big deal back then because even in 98 we didn’t have a lot of money.

I’ll never forget going to the store and rolling in to find the perfect pair. One of the sales guys asked me what I wanted, I told them I needed Jordans. The next part of the story is absolute truth, he went to the back, and when he came out he had the shoes and a massive smile on his face. I asked him what the smile was for and he said “you are going to love these shoes. They’re going to make you run faster and jump higher.” Those shoes are displayed  prominently in my room and I still put them on occasionally, to see if they’ll do something for me. I don’t expect to jump like Mike but even at 18 I had hoped that they had some magical powers. I’m starting to wonder if that might be defective because I put them on and I’ve still got nothing. I don’t need to jump, but if they made it easier for me to walk I’d buy at least two pair every year for the rest of my life.

This has been wheelchair Wednesday (and yes I know air Jordans don’t have magical powers, or maybe you just don’t believe enough 😉 )

Update 6-29-16

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One of the coolest things about running a blog is you have a space to tell people about your life. Evie drew this comic based on one of my jokes, and I just had to update the post. The comic is even funnier because it actually happened to me. I’m curious has anyone else out there ever hoped the new parish shoes Will give you superpowers? I certainly did.

 

Comedy, Life in a wheelchair

A wheelchair does not stop a kid on Halloween

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I do not want to race this kid
I do not want to race this kid

I struggled with what to post today and then I remember tomorrow is Halloween.  I had two costumes when I was a kid that I still remember as an adult. The first, and the best one, was at the age of about five. I went as Pac-Man . My mom drew the little guy on each side of a cardboard box and put it over my chair. The effect was that no matter which way I turned, I was coming at people as Pac-Man. The box had two holes cut into it so I can see where I was going. It was awesome.

The second costume I remember what is going as a ninja. This is funny because it is very hard to be ninja like in a wheelchair. It’s virtually impossible to sneak up on somebody. I was dressed in all black and matched my best friend at that time. I think even he knew he wasn’t sneaking in anywhere with me.

For those that don’t know the kid above it Is dressed as Mario in his cart from the Mario kart video games. That’s really cool and the parent who came up with that, should be applauded.

This has been Funny Friday. I will steal your candy.

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Life in a wheelchair

Stairs and wheelchair don’t mix

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If there is such a thing as a nemesis for a man man in a wheelchair, it is probably stairs. It maybe hard to believe in 2015 but there are still lots of places that are in accessible to me. I have a few friends who have apartments that I’ve never even seen because they live somewhere other than the first floor and there’s no elevator.

Lots of businesses still have the same problem. I wrote about not being able to get into a talent  recently. You can read about it right here.

Point is, This is just part of my life. If there are stairs and no other way to get in, I probably can’t go there. That may be about to change

How awesome is that? I want one, but it’s only a proto type so I guess I’ll have to wait for a bit but things are looking up. You can find out more about it right here

This has been wheelchair Wednesday. I bet you all want one now.

Life in a wheelchair

The chair does not have a flux capacitor

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I'm expecting Doc Brown anytime
I’m expecting Doc Brown anytime

 

As you probably realized by now it’s Back To The Future day. Like most people who are now adults that movie means a lot to me. When I was growing up there were no movie theaters where I lived, so we watch a lot of movies on VHS or when they came on TV, and in the days before cable that happened a lot. I remember watching the movie on VHS and being amazed, I didn’t realize it then but being in a wheelchair and living in the country as we did, my world and entertainment was fairly limited. I have always had a pretty wicked imagination, I love sci-fi and the idea of time travel was something that captured my imagination, still does (every kid I knew wanted to catch a ride on the back of a pickup truck like Marty did. Don’t even get me started on the hover board)  This morning I took time to watch Back In Time on Netflix.

It’s a documentary that got its funding from kick starter, it’s all about movies and how they inspired the world, it’s not very often  I take an hour and a half to watch something the day it’s released but I did with that. If you are a Netflix subscriber you can watch it right now. If not, you should be able to purchase it various places, including iTunes. I also found out the all three of the movies are available on Amazon prime video this month for free. If I wasn’t writing this I’d be watching the first movie right now.

You can’t talk about Back To The Future without talking about Michael J Fox.  Marty McFly is a character that everybody knows whether you seen the movies or not, and that’s all because of Michael J Fox. He nailed the character and I’m looking forward to watching the movies again in the next couple days because the great thing about them is that they are funny. I’m pretty sure that I’ll see jokes in the movies at 36 that I completely missed every other time I’ve seen them.

We don’t often ask you to donate for the blogs that I write here. (although you really should we have a donate button and everything) today I’m asking you to visit the Michael J Fox foundation and donate to Parkinson’s research. He has been fighting the disease for several years now and is extremely outspoken.  he is an inspiration to me. I have  known several people with Parkinson’s and that’s a cause that I support wholeheartedly.

If you’re looking for something to do it tonight, you can check it out all three movies at a theater near you, (for one night only I assume) or you can pop some popcorn and fire up the Dorian in the comfort of your own home. I think that’s where I’m going to do.

 

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