A Fresh Start To My Attempt At Blogging

Until you’ve had to do it, there really is no way to relate to, or to truly understand what living life in a wheelchair is like. 

I’m not thinking an hour, a day, a week or even a month.

I’m  thinking it requires a full year to fully comprehend and understand what it’s like to “live life on wheels”.

All the seasons.
What I mean by “seasons” is not only the Weather Seasons but the Seasons of Life (youth, young adult, adult, middle age, old age), Sports Seasons, Holiday Seasons, the Seasonal Activities of life in general.

Let’s think first about the weather seasons:
Nobody truly loves them all. Most people like some more than others.  For those of us with medical conditions that are affected by the weather, the effects are different for each of us.  For me (because of my MS), my body can’t handle extreme heat. My body has an inability to cool itself, or regulate its internal temperature. Because of that, the high temperatures of summer and the high degree of humidity here in Chicago take their toll on my body’s ability to function. 

For most people after the cold and in some cases unpleasant winters (once the holidays are past.), they are ready for coats and jackets to come off, and and are excited to see the days start to get longer. My personal favorite of the seasons is the Spring not only because of warmer temperature and longer days but I see in spring “new life”.  The dormant/depressing season  of winter is ending and is giving rise to literally, “new life”. The trees start to bud and perennial flowers start to rise and break the surface of the ground. All signs of new life.

Next let’s consider the SPORT SEASONS:
Be it baseball, football, golf or tennis. You’re in a wheelchair now and in most of our cases participation is no longer an option. You can be a spectator, but… it’s not the same. The players get to play and the spectators get to rise to cheer. But not us.

Now think about other types of seasons:
Not seasons per se… but…
Birthday Parties, Weddings and Funerals: not to mention all of the holiday celebrations.  Not only gaining access to the various venues but having to remain seated when everyone else is standing, cocktailing, appetizing, etc. our lives are complicated and in some ways our lives are miserable, but…

Our attitude is our key to success.

These are just things to think about.

Let’s agree to move forward from here.

There is just so much to share.