The Things We Can Do

Since the start of this website I have been introduced, so to speak, to crips from all around the world. I find it really quite amazing. I thought that I had done a lot in my eight years in a chair, but from the excitement of your stories, I think the next eight years will be just as cool.

Because I am unable to share the e-mails I've received, I've decided to outline some of the adventures that have been sent to me.….

I talked to a sit skier who broke his back on a swing set performing a “super loop” (use your imagination). He now busts off table-tops in the snowboard park and turns new-school skiers into speed bumps.

I was invited on a sailing trip across the Atlantic with a group of paralyzed sailors, I'm not sure who climbs the mast, but I'm not sure they care.

I have emailed with a quad that goes surfing with his world-renowned, surfing friends while managing his own non-profit foundation.

I've been contacted by para-golfer with a ten handicap (from the men's tee). If you aren't a golfer and don't know handicaps, a ten handicap would have most CEO's shaking in their Prada golf shoes.

I have heard from a handful of racers, tennis and basketball players, hikers, skydivers, hand gliders, paraplegic and quadriplegic climbers, and the list goes on and on. These are truly inspiring stories. But one of my favorites is from a 19 year-old, British girl. A para, she was tossed up into the mosh pit for a little crowd surfing. This story solidifies my belief that there are two things holding most of us back from doing what we truly want. The first is our fears and the second is other's perceptions.

I was listening to my favorite band, “The Tragically Hip”, and thinking of what to write for this article, when the song, “The Luxury” , began playing. The lyrics to the song inspired me to think of all of you out there truly living your lives. One line that especially rang true states, “I'm so consumed with the shape I'm in, I can't enjoy the luxury”. We all know it's true that paralysis can be a bitch but dwelling on it doesn't change it. And dwelling on it certainly won't help you when you're on the top of a mosh pit or getting twenty high-fives from sixteen-year old snowboarders because you just launched the biggest air they had seen that day.

I have a friend who says, “Disabled people often get applauded for being ordinary”. I agree. That is why it makes me happy to see so many of us doing extraordinary things (even compared to our bipedal counterparts).

Keep it up. If a young girl has the balls to go crowd-surfing and a quad drags himself up a mountain face under his own power, then none of us have any excuse to complain about the things we can't do. Besides, nobody wants to listen to complaining - enjoy the luxury of doing anything you want too. Crowd surfing…. Damn that's cool.