Look to the Positive

In my prior entries on Disability Issues, I gave you the background on what joyous buggers my ankles are to me. In this entry, I would like to expound a bit on a topic very, very few can understand unless you have a physical disability similar to mine.

For the sake of ease, I am going to group physical disabilities into two categories. The first category is those physical life challenges that are permanent alterations to your life.

For example, my friend Bobby is a paraplegic. No, being a paraplegic does not stop him from attaining his goals. However, he does know that he will not be running as it flat out isn’t possible anymore. Another example is one my Mom tried to use to cheer me up initially. She pointed out a guy in the news who had lost his arm and how it will permanently alter his life. All this is true. One segment of the physical disabilities can be defined as disabilities that change certain life functions such as walking from what you could do to what you cannot do any longer.

The second group of physical disabilities is the one I belong to. They are disabilities that change certain life functions such as walking from what you could do to what you shouldn’t do. The word ‘shouldn’t’ is the key word in that line. I will do my best to explain this one as my mother missed it and still does to this day. In her example of the guy who lost an arm, she did not catch on to that minor detail or that I have a friend with a disability in the ‘cannot’ class. For anyone who acquires such a disability, there is a period of time of adjustment to the major life alterations and limitations. You will get down for a bit which is totally normal.

However, once you are adjusted to it, you go on with life with the new definitive limitations. In that regard, I envied those who received a ‘cannot’ class disability. They knew what they could no longer do as their body flat out did not have the ability to perform that way anymore. You will not be carrying a large, heavy and awkward item up a stairwell with one arm. You need help. I wished I had that limitation.

What I and so many others are faced with having to refrain from doing activities most take for granted while still being able to do them. Can I still mow the lawn walking behind the lawnmower? Yes, but I will pay a price of not walking for a couple of days afterwards. I can deal with that. What gets hard is when you go from being an active outdoors person to having to step back. Imagine having been involved in playing beach volleyball which is rather fun. You sustain your injury and now your place that overlooked the volleyball courts is a continual reminder of what you shouldn’t do lest you be down for a week recovering from a couple games. That stings because I can still do it. But I dare not.

Those of you who have read my entries know I am very close to my wife and daughter. It does pain me that at times our going out and doing something fun even just a meandering shopping trip is usually cut short because I just can’t keep going. But the most recent event comes from two small things. This past summer some friends of ours showed us around their town and the beaches of Lake Michigan. It only took me 2 steps in the sand to realize what I had to refrain from doing. How easy would it be for you to stand on the sidewalk and let your spouse and child go play on the sand because you dare not? How easy would it be for you to be the spouse that has to let your loved one behind on the sidewalk? Or knowing that you dare not help your daughter make a snowman? That is what pains those with the ‘should not’ class of disability.

But the article is long enough and should give you sufficient background information to begin to understand the world of those disabled physically. This way you will understand just how important advances in technology are to help bring us back into life. Guess what some of the next entries in the category will be.