I could very well do a lot of things, unlike in the far past, nearly everthing today is accessible. It may cost more, but if you’re determined, you can do it. I know of a man who can’t move his arms and can barely stand up (ALS), yet he hunts.
This is something I’m hoping people who are friends/family of someone in a wheelchair can read and understand.
My family encourages me to do things, I say no, they get upset. They think that I’m allowing a wheelchair to hold me back from donig things I want to do. While that is party true, it is only true in a very small, specific way. Yes, being in a wheelchair or having some disability creates a barrier that I sometimes just don’t care to put forth the effort to overcome, but the reason I don’t care to put in the extra effort is that I just don’t care to do whatever it is.
If I did care about doing something, I would do it and don’t forget, I have cared about doing things. In the gym, I have contrived of great ways to do workouts. When I was in Australia (first of all, I went to Australia alone) I wanted to go skydiving and despite the few friends I had not wanting to, I still managed to get on a ferry, go to an island, and jump out of that plane. Even on the way back, getting off the ferry, the exit was up a flight of stairs, so I managed to get help up the stairs, continue into town and find my way back via public transportation.
Here is the short list of why I sometimes won’t do things:
1. I didn’t do it before my injury.
2. I don’t want to do it enough for the cost or extra effort.
3. The accessible way doesn’t interest me.
4. I’d rather focus on other things.
I explained mostly the second one. The first one has a simple logic, I didn’t play a certain sport before I got injured and just because it’s a special thing for me to do now, it doesn’t make me want to do it anymore than before my injury not too long ago. I lifted weights and competed in bodybuilding before I got injured and here I am doing the same post-injury.
The extra cost. Nearly everything, perhaps literally everything, accessible will cost more money and in most cases more time and effort. I value all three, and I like to use all three as a way to advance myself into what I define as a successful life. Many successful people, imagine Bill Gates, don’t do everything. Actually, nearly all successful people say no to enarly everything and focus on a very few things. I have been fortunate enough to have that mindset bestowed upon me, eliminating distravtions that before were all to easy to affect me. Of course, I still enjoy having fun, which is why I went skiing last winter and why I’d still like to go on a 4×4, jetski or snowmibiling (which actually have little to no extra cost for being accessible for me). This also is part of the fourth reason, for me to focus on other things.
The biggest reasoning for me is the third listed above. I love playing sand volleyball, I’m not all too good but a day at the beach with friends, music, grilled burgers and playing beach volleyball has always been considered a great time. Sure, I could probably continue to play sand or hard floor volleyball, and yeah I could get a track chair and go for a walk on the beach, but I won’t. I like sand volleyball for how I used to do it, not for it in and of itself. I want to do it the way I used to or not at all because I only find it enjoyable for what it was. Not many things are like this for me, however, the reasoning for anyone to do anything is because they like to or want to do something in the way they enjoy.
Wheelchair DNA 