Hello and welcome back to Second Chance to Live my friend. I am happy to have you around my table. In October 2007 I wrote the article, Traumatic Brain Injury and Limitations. The article would later be published in the September 2009 quarterly edition of Synapse — The Official Journal of the Brain Injury Associations of Australia. My encouragement to you my friend is that you stop focusing on what you can no longer do and learn to use what you can do with, what you have, where you are.
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt
Below is an excerpt from the article:
Traumatic Brain Injury and Limitation
Hi, and welcome back to Second Chance to Live. I am happy you decided to stop by and visit with me. You are always welcome at my table. Through my martial arts training I am learning various principles that have direct applications to living my life as a traumatic brain injury survivor. My balance has been impacted by the injury to my brain. Consequently, I work on strengthening my legs and improving my balance. Nevertheless, I may never be able to effectively execute certain types of kicks. As a short stocky man my arms and legs are shorter than many of the other students who train at the martial school. Having shorter arms and legs, in addition to having balance issues puts me at a disadvantage.
Rather than being discouraged about what I can not do, I focus on what I can accomplish given my stature and limitations.
Several months ago I asked my Sensei how I could best spar and grapple people who are taller and heavier than I am during class. He told me that I would learn through the experience of grappling taller and heavier people. My Sensei stated a very simple, but profound truth, “What may work for me, may not work for you.” Although I heard what he was saying, I still wanted him to give me clarity. He again stated that I would have to learn through my experience. As I have continued to free grapple (using technique and strength) I have learned how to use my stature and balance to work for me when working with taller and heavier opponents. I am definitely still learning, however I have made significant gains because I have learned to use what I have been given.
As an individual living with an invisible disability, I have had to learn to accept my limitations instead of fighting against them.
To listen to and watch the presentation, please click on this link: Traumatic Brain Injury, Limitations and Hope Video Presentation
To read the article from which this video presentation is made, please click on this link: Traumatic Brain Injury, Limitations and Hope
As you listen to, watch or read my articles and questions come to mind, please send those questions to mind. All questions are good questions. In the event that you would like to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.To do so, please use the below contact form. I will respond to your comments and questions.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Have a great day.
Craig
Receive more articles like this one simply by clicking on Subscribe to Second Chance to Live by email.
Subscribe to Second Chance to Live, Bookmark and Share Second Chance to Live with your friends through a Feed Reader
All material presented on Second Chance to Live is copyright and cannot be, copied, reproduced, or distributed in any way without the express, written consent of Craig J. Phillips, MRC, BA Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND
Leave a Reply