Having the courage to overcome a fear once is great, there should be nothing taken from the accomplishment. Loading onto the Brooks chair for my first solo ride was scary. Negative thoughts rushing through my mind. Pushing the feeling of wishing I could bail, seconds after leaving the bottom terminal. I took deep breaths to … More Skiing and Cerebral Palsy: The Second Trip
Fear has probably been the best word used to describe my life on the slopes. Starting with the fear of heights, making the ride on the chairlift challenging. The fear of crashing, made it difficult to fully commit to skiing more challenging terrain. Then, I have cerebral palsy, making skiing even more of a challenge. … More Skiing and Cerebral Palsy: A Transition
The last time I skied two days in a row was during my youth. There were a few years in my early teenage years when ski trips took place each winter. Traveling to Idaho and Utah was exciting in the middle part of February. This season has been full of more frequent trips up to … More Skiing and Cerebral Palsy: Two Consecutive Days
There have often been challenges in watching myself on camera. Many of the workout sessions with Bernard were placed on video. We filmed our workouts pretty infrequently, starting before the pandemic changed the world. The challenge with filming was attempting to keep other people inside the gym from getting into the frames. Leaving us with … More Watching Myself on Video: Movement
The opinion of another person can often be valuable. Especially when the person providing the information has good knowledge and insights. As Bernard watched my movements inside the gym, he could understand things I wouldn’t notice. Sometimes I was feeling good and he was noticing some tightness in my movements. At other times, the stiff … More Skiing and Cerebral Palsy: Fluidity of Movement
I have been told, life doesn’t boil down to the opportunities one might be given. Life comes down to the decisions we make. The things we decide to do with those opportunities presented. We all have the chance to make good choices. We also have the choice to squander the opportunities we are presented. I … More A First-Class Trip
The final workout session with Bernard was the result of a wager. We had made a wager only once before, on a game. The deal resulting, got me out of a certain part of the workout session. For me, I’m trying to create an easier training session, when I wager. Bernard usually picks something that … More Training and Cerebral Palsy: Finishing With 40
Connection is something most of us cherish. Forming relationships with people who have the ability to relate to our lives. Over the past couple of months, I have been welcomed to a couple sporting events. A group of young people with different disabilities coming together and playing sports. During the fall season, they played flag … More Athletes with A Disability
It feels like the final couple weeks of my high school days. When there didn’t feel like much purpose to the work happening, at this point. The long-term goals of gaining strength have been left behind. The imagination of exercises to help cerebral palsy improvement have been explored. My work with Bernard has come to … More Training and Cerebral Palsy: Bernard Moves On
It can be challenging to remember exactly how I started my journey to a better lifestyle. The term recovery sounds too clinical for me, so I have never really thought of it in that context. Plus, I don’t really understand what it means to recover from something so invasive. To me, staying clear of pornography … More Addiction and Cerebral Palsy: Reading to Heal
