Still Able to

A Facebook post with a video of a deaf girl telling her story about how she became deaf and then singing so beautifully on one of the reality shows, got me thinking. The friend who posted it made the observation that running their first half marathon seemed like a very small achievement in comparison.

I initially thought that it seemed an odd comparison to make. Considering this person turned sixty just a few weeks earlier, in my view running a half marathon was a fairly sizeable achievement, particularly since my only achievement that day had been to mow my lawn!

It’s funny how we make these unnecessary comparisons and it shouldn’t detract from the fact that after I’ve mowed my lawn I get an enormous sense of satisfaction that even with multiple sclerosis, I am still able to do it.

I think it’s the idea of still being able to do things, no matter how big or small, in spite of handicaps, obstacles or age that gives us that sense of satisfaction, regardless of whether you’re performing on the world stage, running a half marathon or mowing the back lawn.

There are certainly some things that I’m now not able to do because of my MS but I want to focus more on the “still able tos” and work on lengthening that list a bit.

I got a huge kick recently when I surprised myself with the realisation that I’m still able to ride a bicycle. Sometimes it’s just a headgame anyway and it’s only my mind and not my body telling me that I can’t.

As that extraordinary deaf singer said to Simon Cowell: “I want to do more with my life than just give up.”