Disability Dialogue with Bill

Mothers Day - Mothers with Special Abilities

In the US and some other countries we celebrate Mothers Day. I wish all the mothers and their families a very rewarding and joyful Mothers day. I believe Mothers who have disabilities, or care for children with disabilities have special talents of caring and an encouraging mind-set of positive determination we can all learn from.

I believe you will find the mothers in Mothers with Disabilities: Physical limitations are no limitations to loving and nurturing a child by Mary Hill beneficial and inspiring.

Just a couple of points from Physical limitations are no limitations to loving and nurturing a child.

• For mothers who have disabilities, parenting a young child presents unique challenges—and brings very special rewards for mother and child alike.

• According to Through the Looking Glass (TLG), a Berkeley, California-based nonprofit organization focusing on assisting families in which one or more members has a disability, nearly nine million parents in the United States have a disability.

Have you integrated your disability, or your family member’s disability into your way of life and are a successful mother? Can you share what you learned and your experiences with others to help our readers who might be just learning how to be successful at being a mother with a disability, or caring for a child with a disability?

Do you have questions for others?

Happy Mothers Day!!

　

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Adaptability and Attitude is Crucial for Success

Have you ever awoke and found yourself unexpectedly in complete darkness and discovered you were forced to immediately change the way you do everything in your life, including the way you work?

I recently had an opportunity to participate in an interview that was published in Careers and the disABLED that some might enjoy and find useful in their professional and personal life. In addition to my interview, you can read about other positive individuals that are truly making a difference in the world they live in.

The interview with me has dialogue on the value of networking, reskilling techniques, ideas for selling oneself, proper attitude for success, and other valuable lessons to be successful in what ever a person chooses to accomplish in life. A positive attitude and willingness to accept unexpected changes can help us during hard times. Adaptability and re-skilling to accommodate change is an especially critical and necessary skill needed to resolve the complex social, humanitarian, ethical, environmental and business challenges we are facing with so much uncertainty, and in some cases, fear in the world today. Accepting change, help and holding determination in our hearts and having the courage to walk alone at times in uncharted territory with self confidence is necessary so we don’t slow down any transformation we might be going through in our fast paced world.

I sincerely hope none of you have to overcome going into a coma for three months, loss of all vision, give up the ability to look into people’s eyes, and see the person looking back with thought and meaning in their bright eyes and expression on their face. Also, never again being able to look at a computer monitor with one’s physical eyes, while using a computer and other challenges I briefly talk about overcoming in the interview in the Winter edition of the Careers and the disABLED publication.

This publication is shared electronically with the permission from CAREERS & the disABLED -Equal Opportunity Publications.

 

What did you learn from the interview that you can use in your life? Any suggestions to help us handle critical changes with a positive attitude and willingness to accept unexpected challenges? I wish you the very best in overcoming what at first looks to be insurmountable barriers so when you come through your struggles you can be even more productive, have the ability to help others, and yourself more successfully than you ever dreamed could be possible. We all look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Courage to Live and Create Meaning

Has anyone ever hit a roadblock that seems impenetrable? Have you been unable to sleep because the day’s challenges keep racing uncontrollably through your mind at lightning speed as you anticipate tackling challenges all over again the next day? Does your mind uncontrollably contemplate solutions, strategies and actions to solve your challenges as you try to force sleep? Does stress and anxiety ripple through your body?

I believe we can all help each other meet such challenges we face in an ever changing and complex world we live in.

Like others, I have faced many challenges, some small and some critical.

Skills learned during hard times can be transferable and leveraged to help us in our every day life. Have the attitude that such painful and uncomfortable learning’s are a blessing in disguise. We need to be observant as not to miss out on how we can gain knowledge from our difficulties and learn to live without fear.

With our shared experience, and lessons learned in handling such challenges we can help each other in our personal and professional lives.

A few key lessons learned from my experiences

Some thought they should unplug my life support when I was in a coma for 3 months.

• Trust your inner instinct, have faith like my wife Kathy, family and primary care doctor did when they decided not to end my life

• When you enable a life to live you never know how many others that life will have a meaningful impact on.

All medical specialists said I had no hope of ever walking again.

• Believe in yourself and do not fully rely on the opinions of others.

•Dare to live, have faith, take chances and do not believe all negative comments directed towards you.

I recently listened to the recording of an excellent dialogue: Putting Our Differences to Work: HARD TIMES: Gifts of INSIGHT hosted by Debbe Kennedy. Many insightful and passionate leaders discussed and shared valuable lessons about difficult times and the value of learning and accepting these as a new opportunity for a new beginning.

I hope we can all have the courage to live without fear and create meaning in our life.

How can we help each other confront and defeat our roadblocks, fear, challenges and other obstacles’ that prevent us from fully flourishing as the person we want to become? Any insight to help put our restless minds at peace when we try to regenerate in our daily needed sleep? Do you have a story to share with lessons learned?

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

New Year - Time for Reflection and Renewal

I hope you had a wonderful and fulfilling last year.

It is time for careful thoughts, reflection, re-examining our ethical morals and start planning on how we can be confident in handling uncertainty, stay positive, productive and loving to others as we precede down the road of this new year. This year has started out with some deep ruts, steep ditches just off the surface, large rocks, littered with other obstacles and plenty of dead ends that will temporarily halt our progress. To get back on our road requires self reinvention enabling us to successfully continue to our destination. It is important while navigating such a challenging road, we do not take on too much collateral damage projected by others to weaken our inner souls and true self core values and beliefs.

To help prevent us from going off our road of life will require our careful and undivided attention to successfully navigate down a road filled with such obstacles.

Have you had challenges, obstacles, barriers or other difficulties last year? Maybe last year was productive and fulfilling and all you hoped for.

With the economic meltdown, people losing jobs, and other critical global issues, I believe last year had more challenges to test us than other years.

With instability and uncertainty some people tend to stray from their faith and ethical morals and act selfishly, only looking out for themselves.

With the global issues we face today, we need to work together to solve very challenging and complex problems we have. During these difficult times, it is no time to trample over other people or intimidate them into submission to make small temporary short term advances for oneself, as tempting and easy as it might be. We need to stay our course of humble, strong humanitarian leaders to lead others successfully through the maze of difficult and unique obstacles and challenges.

In either case (negative or positive) experiences you had last year I hope we can learn from our experiences to help make this year all we wish for.

I truly believe, even from our most dire and uncomfortable experiences we can find valuable learning’s to help us in our personal and professional life.

Do you have any experiences (negative or positive) you want to share with us? Any lessons learned that will help us in this new year?

In your new year’s resolutions I hope you include being the best ethical leader you can be, to help guide lost and weak individuals who are tempted by quick fixes for solving challenging and complex problems, and help the ones who are losing their jobs and homes, by no fault of their own in most cases.

We look forward to hearing from you in this new year so we can all work together to help each other navigate a challenging new year successfully and rejoice in our opportunities for renewal.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Simple Holiday Gifts of Great Importance

                    
During December we have many opportunities to celebrate cultural, spiritual or religious holidays in our own unique and thoughtful ways. Just a few examples are Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve.

How do you enjoy celebrating your special holidays?

If your special holiday tradition requires the purchase of material gifts, I understand such traditions and partake in such customs as well, like I talk about in Decorating a Christmas Tree with a Disability.

I have found the simpler, non-material gifts have more meaning and are just as valuable as anything that can be purchased, in my opinion.

In   Special Thoughts During Holidays I talk about the gratitude and joy that can be experienced from non-material gifts, as I laid in a hospital bed for 7 months.

In Holiday Traditions I talk about how after I went completely blind I am still able to experience my enjoyable traditions that include family and friends.

It is far more important to be grateful and find meaning in simple meaningful gifts of human companionship and helping others when we celebrate our traditions. With the global instability in the world we are experiencing, these attitudes and actions are even more important to help us enjoy the holidays and others during this time of joyful and caring celebrations. 

Even a simple gift of a glass of lemonade can be cherished with extreme joy! To learn how and why a glass of lemonade can taste so good and be the best gift of all, if this was your first drink of cool liquid in many months, listen to Lemonade on the Road to Recovery on Podcasts at the Global Dialogue Center.

My Thoughts Of Valuable Simple Gifts Of Appreciation

 • Give the gift of  your personal companionship by spending time with others.

 • Offer your expertise to others to help them. In return, you will find the person you help can help you equally and mutualisticly.

 • Work to help the less fortunate, or those who are in need.

 • Offer some of your time and energy to help others in your community and in the world.

 • If you are in a position to give, give to others and organizations that can use your aid.

 • Teach, mentor and give guidance to people in your personal and professional life.

 • If in your professional life you are in direct contact with customers, treat them with respect and caring, like you should do for other co-workers.

 • If you are working, educate yourself for innovation and leadership thinking, even if you’re in an individual contributor role.

These gifts I list are equally reciprocal  as gifts to yourself. When you give the gift of oneself, there are others that receive your gifts through the people you touch you will never know benefited from your generosity. These gifts of ones self spread from person to person like wild flower seeds blowing through the wind and sowing an open field of dry grasses with the seeds of life. With kindness and gratitude and helping to create a better place for all I picture the gifts of California Poppy, Purple and pink Lupine seeds covering the hillsides for miles and miles. Soon a field of beautiful bright orange,  vivid purple and vibrant pink flowers cover the fields where once only dry grasses, rocks and dirt  in a variety of brown and tan hues existed.

During this holiday season, let’s plant some wild flowers of joy for others by giving the unselfish gift of our self.

How do you like to celebrate your special holidays? How might you celebrate this year? Will you be the one who gives the gift of a drink of lemonade to a person who was not able to drink any cool liquids for many months and make their day?  We all look forward to hearing from you, so we can celebrate this enjoyable season together.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Thankful For Unexplainable Guidance

        
I believe all things happen for a reason. Most of us have had unexplainable circumstances at some point in our life that have had underlying meanings.

One unexplainable event happened to me very soon after I got home from the hospital. I was in the hospital  for seven months and lost all of my vision and ability to walk, due to an extremely critical medical condition that hit me without warning.

Very shortly after getting home from the hospital I received a telephone call as I laid in bed recovering. The voice on the telephone asked “ is this Bill Tipton?”. I said with some hesitation, “yes, it is” Then the person on the telephone asked, “are you blind?” I answered “who is this? They quickly responded I am John Doe, from a church I had never heard of. John Doe  said a member of his congregation had found a Braille bible in one of their pews after a service. The Braille bible had my name and telephone number hand written in it. John Doe  said they were calling me to return my Braille bible. I responded with astonishment, my name is Bill Tipton and I am completely blind. I told them I had never been to or heard of their church. I also told them I just got out of the hospital after a seven month stay and that was not my bible and I did not know Braille. I graciously thanked them for taking the time to call, as we both were in wonder of who the bible belonged to. 

I felt sensations of bewilderment and amazement run throughout my body wondering with astonishment how this bible with my name and telephone number got into their church. I wondered  why that apparently lost bible was left on a seat in the pew of that church. I thought this unexplainable event must have happened for some very special reason.

To this day I never found out how that bible got in that church. Every time I think about that Braille bible with my name and telephone number written in it I am in wonder. When I think about that telephone call those same sensations I had when I got that mysterious telephone call run through my body all over again. 

Some incredible events in my belief that followed that mysterious telephone call.

 • I returned to church in my wheelchair without any eyesight.

 • Learned how to use a screen reader to allow me to use a PC and applications without eyesight.

 • Learned grade one and grade two Braille.

 • Learned how to walk again and left my wheelchair behind after many doctors from multiple hospitals said I had no hope of ever walking again.

 • Joined three non-profits in my community to help others.

 • Returned to work after a tremendous amount of re-skilling to enable me to contribute my very best to my employer  as I help many customers and employees from all over the world.

I truly believe others have experienced unexplainable events that have taken them on similar paths as mine. If you have not, maybe we need to take life slower, so even the dimmest simplest of signals do not go unnoticed. Even if you do not fully understand the underlying meaning, your heart and attitude needs to be open to let your inner self accept the signals. Unexplainable events if associated with proper timing to your calculated planned events can catapult your success. Just a few examples of the planned events  I talk about are  learning from co-workers, friends, observing others, networking, work experience, formal education and doing volunteer work to help others.

With everyone attempting to accomplish more in less time in their personal and professional life, it is vital to pay attention to your unexplainable events  as much as your planned events. This frame of mind is needed to take advantage of the catapult  effect I described when you associate different types of learning opportunities together. This is even more critical during our unstable financial and economic situation our world is in today, when we are asked to do more with less, some are loosing jobs and their homes. In some parts of our world some are fighting for the bare necessities of life to enable them to live without enough food, access to medication to fight critical deadly diseases, lack of shelter  and other very unfortunate situations. .   If you do not take advantage of unexplainable events, it is like throwing away a free learning opportunity.

In the US we celebrate Thanksgiving Day this week. This Thanksgiving Day one of my many things I am grateful and thankful for is the ability to accept help from unexplainable sources with humbleness and gratitude. Live with an attitude of faith and expectance to help your dreams become a reality. 

Has anyone else had a unexplainable event happen? If so, after the event happened did that event trigger any special learning’s to help you? Do you see any explanations from my mysterious telephone call? We all look forward to hearing from you.
 
 Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

            

Insight Without Sight

Like a terrible storm with blustery winds blows out the flame of a candle or knocks out a city’s power, a storm hit me without warning one day. The strong winds from that painful and fearful storm blew out my candle of eyesight forever. My terrible storm was the critical medical condition that left me completely blind forever.

I am very grateful to be so blessed that I survived my storm of a critical medical emergency to live and experience life’s joys and challenges to the fullest. 

Now even though I do not see any physical light through my eyes, does not mean I do not have any sight! My sight is now experienced through many other senses and sensations.  Having no eyesight has enabled me to see things other people with eyesight might overlook or have challenges sensing. Some people with eyesight might be interpreting their surroundings and other sensory input through their eyes and might not allow their other senses to experience what the eyes can not pick up on.

I can now sense new ways of accomplishing tasks, taking advantage of dealing with  opportunities, obstacles in my path to my goals, and insights into personalities’ I could not see when I had physical eyesight. Others who do have eyesight might be able to pick up on these senses, but in my situation my other senses were enhanced and enriched to allow and provide me with valuable new uniqueness to enhance the quality of the work I do in my professional and personal life.

Now, when I have an obstacle that seems overwhelming at first, I am finding with my new senses and skills I can take my newly acquired approaches to handle my obstacles and difficulties with tactfulness, strategic thoughtfulness and grace.

Not being able to read peoples facial expressions I now rely on voice tones, volume, fluctuation, hesitation, vocabulary, and other auditory senses and writing styles to help me interpret how to best accomplish my professional and personal work.

I believe I can now grasp easier the inward or hidden nature of things and perceive in an intuitive manner as I go about doing life’s activities

I know other extraordinary leaders who have such senses who did not need to loose any of their physical senses to hone the skills I have talked about.

Do any of you have techniques to help us have better insight to keep us on our path of life? Did any of you loose any senses which enhanced any of your other skills?

We look forward to hearing your thoughts, comments and suggestions to help us all have better insight.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
www.globaldialoguecenter.com  

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

." On Sept. 18, 2007, only a month after doctors told him that he had three-to-six months to live following a recurrence of pancreatic cancer, he presented a lecture called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" to a packed auditorium at Carnegie Mellon.

The moving and often humorous talk recounted his efforts to achieve such childhood dreams as becoming a professional football player, experiencing zero gravity and developing Disney World attractions. In the process, he shared his insights on finding the good in other people, working hard to overcome obstacles and living generously.

"If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself," Pausch said. "The dreams will come to you." Listen to Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.

What I learned from Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture.

• Teach by story telling.

• Never loose the childlike wonder, it is just too important.

• Focus on people, not yourself. • If you do the right thing, people will listen.

• Find the best in everybody.

• Show gratitude

• Do not complain, just work harder.

• Brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to see how much you really want it. These walls are there to keep out the people who do not want it bad enough.

• If you are doing Pioneering work you will get arrows in your back.

 

What did you learn from listening to Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture?

What childhood dreams came true of yours?
Do you have a story around accomplishing your dream?

What lessons did you learn from making your dream a reality?

Did you learn something from not accomplishing your dreams?

How did your dreams help you in your personal or professional life?

 

We all look forward to hearing your comments and thoughts.

 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Importance of Special Songs in Your Life

Does anyone have any special songs that when you hear them it brings back special memories and reinforces some goals you have in your life? I might guess we all have such songs. Diana Ross & Lionel Ritchie - Endless Love and Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance are two songs that have special meanings to me. The song Endless Love was the song my wife Kathy and I danced our first dance to at our wedding reception after getting married over 21 years ago. I can still remember that dance as I looked into my wife’s eyes as she looked back into my eyes as she wore her very beautiful wedding gown. Even though I can no longer see anything but complete darkness, now being blind, that dance and the look in my wife Kathy’s eyes are ingrained in my minds eyes; I am lucky to say. We have had very difficult challenges to overcome to test our love. We also have experienced much joy and happiness over the 21 years. I wrote Anniversaries - What They Mean to You to celebrate our 20th anniversary. You can read about our obstacles to test our marriage and why we had to create a new life for ourselves with trust and love in Anniversaries - What They Mean to You. I Hope You Dance reminds me of two things. After getting out of the hospital, reinventing myself and returning to work I went to a very special dinner to celebrate with my wife Kathy and four of my special friends. The evening was full of joy and laughter. We all enjoyed each other’s company very much as the evening went by before we realized it. As soon as I got home I turned on my radio and heard the song I Hope You Dance. I listened to the words intently with amazement and wonder. The song brought tears to my eyes and made the hair on my arms stand on end when I listened to the words. That song still gives me the same reaction today. This is because I am so grateful I did not die while in the hospital, endured exhaustive rehabilitation in many areas and rapidly learned many new assistive technologies so I could successfully return to work and join in the dance, instead of sitting out the dance. I am very grateful I had the faith in myself to take the chance and join in the dance instead of settling on the path of least resistance and sitting out the dance and staying on long term disability. Many people had doubt in my faith and ability to retrain myself to join in the dance. I think the timing of the song playing and my being able to listen was amazing. Just after a perfect evening with my wife and four other good friends. When you get the chance to dance I hope you take it! I hope you never loose your sense of wonder to explore your own possibilities. When you have the opportunity for endless love do not pass it up, or take it for granted. Endless love can be between married couples, partners or friends in my opinion. Does anyone else have special songs with special meanings? Do any of these special meanings help you in your professional or personal life? What makes a song special to you? We all look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments. Bill Tipton Contributing Author Global Dialogue Center http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Learning to Walk Again

Have you ever had a personal learning experience where the skills acquired can be leveraged in business, or in your personal life?

One experience that comes to mind for me is when I had the opportunity to learn how to walk again.

When I came home from the hospital after a very long stay from a critical medical condition I had to adapt to my new life in many ways. I had become completely blind and become so weak I could not sit up in bed, among many other newly acquired challenges.

As I laid there in bed, or sat in my wheelchair I contemplated with apprehension over and over again how difficult it would be for me to get around as a person who was now blind in my wheelchair. At this point in my rehabilitation I knew nothing about blindness. I had never talked to a person who was blind and did not know any organizations existed to help the blind. The outdoors is a great love of mine and I wondered how I would ever get outside without eyesight in my wheelchair by myself ever again. Learning to walk again had become one of my passionate goals!

Opinions Are Just Others Observations
The neurologists at the hospital I was released from thought I had no hope of ever walking again. From lying in bed for so long and becoming diabetic I had serious neuropathy in both legs. The doctors performed many tests on me and concluded that I would never walk again. By the time I was released from the hospital I had lost my medical insurance. My lengthy stay, many surgeries, procedures, tests and the criticalness of my medical condition caused my bill to exceed the maximum amount that was covered in my plan. Lack of medical insurance slowed down my rehabilitation. Once I was able to get medical insurance again I went to another hospital that specialized in very critical neurological conditions. A group of neurologists did many tests with the latest technology and came up with the same conclusion as the group of doctors at the other hospital did. The doctors told me that because of the nerve damage in both legs I would not be able to walk again. They agreed to see me as an outpatient to give me some needed occupational therapy and to see how physical therapy might help my condition.

When I first met my physical therapist she asked, “What is your goal?” I said I want to walk again. I could not see the reaction on her face being completely blind, but I imagined a smirk of amusement on her face by the tone in her voice when she replied, can you be more specific?” I said, “I will be walking by Christmas”. Walking was to be one of my goals for the year and was to be my very special Christmas present to myself that year.

Why New Skills Are Needed
I had been lying in a hospital bed for seven months. Three of those months I was in a coma on life support. I was on intravenous (IV) food for one month after awakening from my coma. With this trauma to my body and lack of real food I had dropped from a 6 foot tall 205 pound person to 128 pounds by the time I got out of the hospital. One hand could almost fit around my upper thigh muscle it was so thin. I had a couple of surgeries in my abdomen area. When I felt my abdomen it was rock hard from the scar tissue from the surgeries and was extremely skinny and a bit concaved. I asked my wife if the surgeon cut off my fat while he was in their cutting around doing the necessary surgeries to save my life. She laughed and said no, you lost the weight the very hard way!

Creating a Stable Base to Build Success
When I was strong enough to pull myself into a standing position from my wheelchair I could not place my feet flat on the ground. I could only stand on my toes and part of the ball of my foot, like I was wearing high heels without shoes. This was because of lying in a hospital bed for so long my muscles had atrophied very badly and had developed contractures.

They had devices at the hospital where I was doing outpatient therapy called a standing frame. I would be pushed in my wheelchair up into this device. It had two handles at each side of my wheelchair within hand reach. With great difficulty and exertion I would pull myself up to the standing position. The therapist would then pull a strap very tight around my backside forcing my body to stand erect which forced my feet to sit flatter on the ground. Over time by gradually tightening the belt tighter and tighter, I would stand more upright and would gradually be able to put more of my foot flat on the ground. Standing in this device would help my spine straighten, strengthen my legs and allow my internal organs to uncompress and position naturally in my body to help with blood flow and digestion. I had to stand in this device for an hour or so at a time. The therapist wanted me to stand in a standing frame daily if possible. I could not go to the hospital each day to accomplish this. I was attending computer courses designed for the blind, learning assistive technology, going to counseling, attending meetings at local blind organizations and learning other essential blindness skills so I could return to work as quickly as possible. Plus my medical insurance would not have covered me going for daily therapy. Standing Frames are very expensive in my opinion for me to purchase my own. My dad looked over this device at the hospital where I was doing outpatient therapy, and got some plans and built me my own standing frame out of wood, and then put it in my backyard. Now that I had my own standing frame at home my wife Kathy put me into the standing frame each day. She called it my torture device, jokingly, because of the way it looked and the way she would strap me in. To also help with my rehabilitation I would lift small arm weights and use other types of weights to strengthen my arms, hands, wrists and legs.

Get The Support You Need
The hospital where I did my outpatient therapy had full leg braces custom made and fitted for me. When I received these braces I found them to be very large and cumbersome. My leg braces covered each foot and went all the way up to my inner thighs. They were fixed at both ankles to prevent my ankles from moving. Both knees were locked so I could not move them either. My wife Kathy had to learn how to put my leg braces on me since I could not do this myself at first. I had to purchase larger shoes that fit over the hard smooth plastic bottoms of my leg braces so I would not slip and fall. Once I had my leg braces and shoes I was given a walker to begin my journey of learning to walk all over again.

Achieving Higher Goals
After I had my leg braces on and knees locked I placed my walker directly in front of my wheelchair. Since I could not move my ankles or knees I felt like I was a statue made of cement as I tried to stand. I walked very, very slowly with my walker around the hospital as I practiced. To walk, I put one stiff leg out a bit placing my foot on the floor. Then I would slowly move my other stiff leg forward as I took a step. As I practiced walking, a person followed directly behind me with the wheelchair just in case I fell backward I would fall into the seat and not on the floor. The scariest part is when I had to walk off a standard height curb. It took me a few tries before I was brave enough to step off the curb. Not being able to move my knees or ankles made stepping off the curb very awkward. It was very frightening stepping off of something in which I could not feel or see the bottom. To accomplish this I anxiously dangled my leg very slowly off the curb waiting for my foot to hit something solid.

Building Skills and Strengths
With my recent connections I had made with a local organization to help the blind and visually impaired I got an Orientation and Mobility (O & M) instructor. Orientation and mobility instructors are trained to help the blind and visually impaired travel safely. My instructor taught me techniques so I could walk with my walker and full leg braces without eyesight. When I first started walking with my walker and I would occasionally come across a crack or an uneven spot on the sidewalk my walker would get caught on that uneven spot and I would tumble to the ground. If this occurred my O & M instructor would try to ease me down to the ground in a direction that might minimize injuries. As much as I had time and endurance I practiced with my walker in my neighborhood. The furthest I could go at this point in my rehabilitation was about 5 houses away from my home.

Enhancing Skills and Strengths
After a few months of practicing with my walker I was given Canadian crutches to replace my walker. Canadian crutches are forearm crutches that are used by slipping the arm into a cuff and holding the grip. At first I felt very unstable since I now only had two points of contact on the ground to stabilize me, instead of the four I had with my walker.

Just after getting my new crutches my medical insurance reached the limit of physical rehabilitation and ended my physical therapy as an outpatient in the hospital. My O & M instructor continued to work with me with my new crutches. To speed up my transition to my crutches I practiced walking a lot by myself. During my many hours of practicing I fell a lot more times. Luckily I never got really hurt. I just tore some jeans, skinned my knees, arms, and knuckles, had sore joints and was a bit startled falling to the ground in darkness.

Accept New Ways of Accomplishing Tasks for Success
One day my O & M instructor showed up with a present for me. She had two canes for me. One long white cane and one short white support cane with red tips on each. It was time for me to advance to my next stage of mobility and give up my crutches. It was very slow going at first. I thought going from a walker to crutches was hard. This transition to canes was far more difficult and precarious. It was very hard to coordinate the smooth movement of a cane in each hand while I walked. Learning the timing of moving my support cane and swinging my long cane back and forth in front of me to find and get around obstacles in my path as I walked took a lot of practice. Because of my weak and nerve damaged legs I had to use a support cane. I took up practicing using my new aids with gratitude and eagerness.

At night when I was in the house I walked without my leg braces and canes back and forth at the end of my bed while my hand gently slid across the foot board for orientation. I did this to help strengthen my legs and help improve my balance while I listened to books on tapes.

One day for fun I went out the back door of my house without my wife seeing me and without any canes or leg braces. I do not recommend this! With the palms of my hands up against the house for support and orientation I slowly walked around the outside of the house. Eventually I made my way to the front door after going around some obstacles, like bushes and trees. When I got up on the front porch I rang the door bell and stood there in silence. My wife answered the door in shock when she saw me and wondered how I got there.

Each time I went out walking I would venture out further and further. I felt like I was exploring new unknown territories like the early pioneers. Eventually I was walking all the way around my block with the aid of my two canes and my leg braces. On these walks I talked to neighbors I had not talked to since I went into the hospital and lost my eyesight. Everyone was so excited and very happy to see me walking again. As they greeted me I could hear the excitement and joy in their voices. Through my darkness I could see a great big smile on their faces.

Do Not Fear Giving Up Old Ways to Achieve Your Goals
One day to my surprise I found my leg braces no longer fit me. My leg muscles had grown to the point I could not close the braces around my legs. Since my leg braces no longer fit I started practicing walking with my two canes only. My legs buckled and I fell to the ground every now and then since my legs no longer had the support of the braces.
Without my leg braces I was much more fearful and unsure of myself at first. At every transition to new aids I had to endure fear and uncertainty all over again as I learned to use and trust my new aids. Soon I was walking down many blocks and crossing streets.

My first Christmas after coming home from the hospital was a blessing. With the help of my walker, leg braces, crutches, canes, rehabilitation therapy and O & M training I was walking by Christmas! My Christmas present was just what I had asked for from myself!

I continued to exercise and enhance my orientation and mobility skills to get to the point I am today, walking only with the support of two canes. I am very happy and grateful to have received the gift of being able to walk again. My early fears of never being able to get outside without assistance is now gone.

A Few of My Key Lessons Learned
• Only you know what’s best for you so follow your own intuition.

• Believe in yourself and have an attitude of faith, willingness and acceptance

• Do not give up on your dreams or get discouraged by your opposition.

• Character, perseverance and creativity is built during difficult times.

• To overcome difficult challenges requires a lot of hard work and some pain at times (falling as I learned to walk)

• Create a network of people for mutual sharing of experience and associations

• At each transition in your life you might encounter new found fears and challenges to overcome

• Each time you move to the next level or make a change in your professional career you might have to re-learn how to accomplish the things you used to do differently than in the past.

•Learn from your fears and challenges to deliver innovative work and be a better person.

• Not all medical or other conditions can be overcome by hard work. If this is the case, do not be discouraged. As long as you are giving your best effort within your ability; that is all anyone can ask of us.

Has anyone else had the opportunity to learn something valuable out of an unforeseen challenge in your life? If so, how have these new skills helped you in your personal or professional life? We would love to hear your thoughts and comments to help us all.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/