Disability Dialogue with Bill

Sensory Extravaganza: Exploring Collectibles without Eyesight

Have you ever walked blind folded with guidance through a maze of hundreds of people, tables and unknown obstacles on city streets? While being guided you are continually listening to many conversations from all directions, the person guiding you describing your location and at times live music. While navigating through the crowd, people occasionally bump into you, step on your toes or accidentally bump small shopping carts into you since they do not notice you can’t see with your blindfold on and are not able to see them to move out of their way. As this activity is occurring all around, you are constantly updating the picture of the environment you are experiencing in your mind’s eye while traveling through such a wonderful and exhilarating sensory extravaganza.

From time to time you may stop and hold an object placed in your hands by one of the people you are with. You might even feel brave enough to explore the objects on the table on your own by delicately feeling around until you find an object without breaking anything or injuring yourself on anything sharp. As soon as you touch an object you attempt to determine what the object is by tactical senses only. Other times you may receive assistance from others as they describe the object you are holding or touching to the best of their ability. Some objects are far too large or heavy to pick up or get your hands around therefore you may only be able to touch a portion of the object. You attempt to hold some of the objects as carefully and delicately as possible because they are very fragile and extremely difficult to replace if you accidentally break it.

I am very excited and pleased to say twice last month I had the opportunity to experience the equivalent of walking through such a sensory extravaganza blindfolded. My wife and I graciously accepted the invitation from two of our friends to attend the  “San Juan Bautista Antique and Collectors fair“ and the “ Niles Antique Faire & Flea Market“. What made this opportunity extra special is because my wife and I have not been able to attend these two enjoyable events for many years since I lost all of my eyesight suddenly and can no longer get to some destinations due to transportation barriers.

Participating in these two events enabled me to visualize many objects in my mind’s eye and enjoy the beauty and fine craftsmanship in these vintage objects.  I can remember the vivid art work, colors and the detailed craftsmanship in the objects I was able to touch and hold. This brought back positive memories of when I could see the objects I am now able to visualize and enjoy them without eyesight.

I understand everyone is different and that is what makes life wonderful. If you have the opportunity to continue to enjoy what you once did despite any new challenges including losing some abilities, I hope you will not let these challenges deter you from enjoying life. Since I lost my eyesight and now need to walk with one support cane and one long navigation cane I still seek the enjoyment from the activities I once did as a sighted person with modifications as required. 

I also understand that participating in activities which require modifications in order to accomplish take extra time to plan and prepare to complete safely. It can also be frightening for some to venture out into the unknown and put their complete trust in others to help them overcome some challenges to create a successful and joyful experience.

Taking care of yourself physically and mentally is a side benefit of participating in activities you enjoy. For example I walked approximately six hours each of the two days taking breaks as needed, breathing fresh air outdoors and holding many conversations with many friendly people at the events I described.

Do you have a story about some activities you may have thought you might not be able to enjoy again? Any examples about how you modified the way you had once accomplished the activity to help make your new experience a success? Do you have tips to help us take that extra calculated risk keeping safety in mind to stretch our comfort level to enjoy activities we thought we could no longer accomplish?

I look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

Mental Therapy: Requires Discipline and a Conscientious Effort

I feel therapy is very important and essential for some people. Just a few types of therapies you might be familiar with are physical, occupational, respiratory, muscular strengthening and flexibility among other types which I refer to as the visible or physical therapies. I call these types of therapies visible or physical therapies because if a person does not have a visual impairment they can visibly see the therapist performing some action or if they do not have a hearing impairment they can listen to them perform these types of therapies.

I feel that we should not overlook the importance of mental therapy. When I describe mental therapy, although mental disorders are a very important topic, my version of mental therapy does not relate directly to mental disorders. My non-medical opinion of what mental therapy includes is one’s spiritual and mental clarity. I sometimes call this my inner barometer.  Without mental peace and contentment, none of the many visible or physical therapies could accomplish as much as they could if a person’s body and mind was not in a healthy state.

For me it is far easier to do the physical therapies. This is because for me physical therapies do not require as much mental discipline and conscientious effort to maintain a steady and persistent mindful inner peace. However, I know from experience the physical therapies I noted above can be very strenuous, grueling and extremely painful at times. I know this first hand from having the experience of re-learning all over again how to sit up in bed, sit on a chair, talk, walk and feed myself among other typical life tasks.

I feel my inner senses around my physical well being have been enhanced since I lost all of my eyesight and I temporarily lost the abilities I mention above. One thought I have for the perceived extra bandwidth in my mind for additional sensory abilities is because I do not need to waste energy on actually seeing with my physical eyes. This extra sensory energy can be focused inwardly. Maybe others with other permanent or temporary disabilities have their own unique skills for sensing well being.

When I am in a good frame of mind mentally my mind is clear and the blackness I perceive to see is not so pitch black. I would describe what I see when I am experiencing inner peace and well being as like seeing a light grey color.  In the foreground of the light grey color I am imagining images of the tasks I am doing or other thoughts as I move my eyes while I am concentrating on my tasks. When I am in this state of well being I am able to be my most productive in my personal and professional life. 

Occasionally I might experience consecutive days where my perceived vision is dark therefore I know I need to take action. Over the last few weeks I have made a conscientious effort to dedicate time to occasionally take a short break to check in with my inner self and pay attention to my inner barometer (attitude) and the color of my perceived vision. If I notice my attitude is not positive or my perceived vision is dark I conscientiously focus inward and take some deep breaths, think positively and re-ground myself. I am diabetic and as a benefit of practicing my version of mental therapy it helps maintain a steady and correct blood glucose level.

If you have read some of my other blog posts, you might have noticed in my opinion I am extremely driven, relentless to overcome any obstacles and continually learning new skills to deliver positive and quality results. This attitude at times can be harmful if I forget to check in with my inner barometer and over look the importance of practicing my version of mental therapy. Since I love my profession, get pleasure from assisting others and enjoy being productive it is extremely easy for me to fully engulf my time and effort to complete my deliverables and thus neglect my mental therapy. I can easily get distracted and neglect my mental therapy while I am improving my business skills, working on the five operating systems and working on the many different types and versions of software with many user interface designs. All of these learning opportunities are compounded with teaching myself how to use over six different types of assistive technologies, solving interoperability complexities that come with such a changing environment, and many other skills that allow me to be effective and productive.

My recent practice of increasing the importance of my version of mental therapy has helped me to be more productive all while working through daily obstacles. As part of my mental therapy I have started to try to work less on the weekends if there are not any critical projects pending and thereby help me re-ground and re-energize. In addition I have recently taken up learning to play the Ukulele as part of my mental therapy which is an extreme diversion from all of the technical tasks I normally do.

I have found that practicing mental therapy recalibrates my inner barometer for sensing well being which allows me to work smarter, quicker and more efficiently all the while keeping my family life as the priority it should be.

I am sure others are far busier and have a more complicated life with more responsibilities than I do and thus might be able to benefit from my version of mental therapy to enhance their life.

Does anyone else practice mental therapy? If yes, how do you accomplish your mental therapy and what sense (internal or external) triggers you to do a recalibration check in? What benefits have you gained from it? If you sense your well-being is not positive, what techniques do you use to recalibrate your inner barometer? If you have a temporary or permanent disability, does your mental therapy aid in your ability to sense your inner well being? 

I  look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

 

 

Perspectives on Inspiration for the New Year: Disability & Success

 

I read Inspiration for the New Year, Perspectives on Disability & Success blog post which I found meaningful, encouraging and provided valuable insight. 

Some Key Points from the Blog Post: 

• "Instead of hiding and feeling ashamed of who we are, we have to show what we are capable of in spite of, or because, we are disabled.”

• "We as future leaders have the unique ability to change the way others think of those with disabilities and ultimately change the world to our liking.

However, in order to do this, we must start by changing ourselves.” 

• “With the appropriate types of accommodations and the superb work ethic that we have demonstrated our whole lives as we advanced towards where we are today, we can accomplish anything that we want to in life.” 

• "We are not normal people; we are in fact extraordinary. We have tackled challenges that most cannot even fathom, and we have emerged victorious. When any of us confronts attacks of judgment, prejudice, or condemnation, we know exactly how to respond: fight back with wisdom, perseverance, and leadership by example.” 

I also enjoyed reading about the Leadership & Development Symposium. 

What perspectives do you have from reading Suzanne Aptman’s Lime - boundless ability blog post? Do you have examples of how you have, or will demonstrate the traits/attitudes described in the New Year? Any other tips or stories to help us be all we have the ability to become? 

We all look forward to hearing your valuable comments. 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Hold Thanksgiving in Your Heart and Actions Every Day

I truly believe we all should take time out of every day to celebrate thankfulness! As I describe in “Demonstrate Gratitude and Embrace Thankfulness” and “Giving Thanks” this month gives us extra encouragement to celebrate.

 

My life has obstacles, challenges and gratifying experiences that are similar to many others. These experiences provide many reasons to celebrate daily.

 

I am grateful even when facing obstacles and despite occasionally experiencing fear of the unknown/change I am not deterred from taking action. Realistically like many others, I am actually too busy due to many deadlines which require quick turnarounds to worry or contemplate long before I take action. Gratefully most of the time my actions turn out to be positive ones. However, occasionally without first seeking out and completing any required education I may make a judgment call error and also may not have the skills to efficiently complete a task.

 

I am grateful to be alive and experience life with all of its precious highs and lows. I am also blessed to be able to continue to learn new skills and grow professionally and personally. Valuing relationships with family, friends and colleagues is an additional key component of my thankfulness. I am also extremely grateful I am able to provide protection, shelter and food for my family and pets. Most of all I am truly grateful for my loving wife Kathy who relentlessly assists me daily by providing assistance for obstacles I cannot overcome due to my complete blindness. Kathy also continues to be my loving, caring wife and companion, as we overcome our blessed challenges together. I also cannot overlook being blessed by my higher power which I believe brought me back from a three month long coma. I also believe my higher power enabled me to survive, among other critical challenges, a couple of code blues when I was in the ICU.  I write about these challenges which can be read in my other blog posts.

 

I am still not beyond learning by any means. That is why I am reaching out to all of you to assist me, as well as others who read this blog post to help all of us learn how to best keep thankfulness and gratitude in our hearts and actions every day.

 

What are you thankful for? How will you celebrate thankfulness and gratitude this Thanksgiving and every day? Do you have any examples of how thankfulness and gratitude has benefitted you and others?

 

We all look forward to hearing from you.

 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton            

Mid Year Review: Personal and Professional Growth

Days, weeks and months pass by very quickly. If we do not stop our continuous actions and take time out from time to time to reflect on  personal and professional growth the year will pass  without any sensation of personal development,  satisfaction or valuing accomplishments.

This time of year gives us a chance to reflect on what has gone well so we can take time to celebrate the successes. This is an excellent time to review our activities and determine if we can improve on  effectiveness, efficiencies and look for ways to achieve required skills to improve our chances for success. This time of year also gives us an excellent opportunity to adjust any yearly goals by removing or re-prioritizing them to facilitate a productive year. With the abundance of opportunities we have the option to spend time on, we can easily lose track of our long term vision and drift off course wasting precious time and energy. If you have a disability, age related challenge or are experiencing short or long term challenges, you might consider leveraging assistive technology (AT - High & Low Tech). AT could help increase productivity and assist with completing some goals.

One other essential activity is to prioritize valuing relationships with family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and others. I also feel assisting people in need is critical for the person doing the assisting as well as the recipient. Having relationships with people enhances our social skills. This is beneficial when working productively with others to assist in completing goals where teamwork is essential. I believe keeping in touch with others is vital to emotional health by promoting a sense of overall well being.

If we only focus on accomplishing tasks instead of looking at the impact our tasks have after completion we are only going through the motions. Completing tasks for the sole purpose of completion can be compared to a hamster running in a wheel. The hamster runs and runs, spinning the wheel around and around and never gets anything accomplished. In today’s fast paced world with a great deal of competition and little time for wasted energy it is critical we do not get stuck in the “hamster wheel”. If we attempt to complete goals/tasks without proper planning, reflection and education as needed, our life will be like running in a hamster wheel.

Let’s experience completing our goals/tasks with joy and gratitude and not get stuck in a hamster wheel. A healthy diet, getting required rest, exercise, assisting others, keeping in touch socially and completing goals with a positive attitude enhances every aspect of life. Accomplishing goals with excellence, thoughtfulness and follow through is the best method to propel you into the rest of the year with joyful anticipation.

Does anyone have tips to help keep us on track to complete our yearly goals/tasks? Any examples of how you accomplished any of your more difficult goals/tasks? Did you use assistive technology (AT) to help you accomplish your goals? If yes, how did AT assist you?

We all look forward to hearing from you. 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

 

Succeeding in the New Year: Don’t be Afraid to Walk a Tight Rope

Hello all,

I hope you will be prepared to experience the New Year with all the exciting emotions and possibilities including fear, uncertainty, challenges, joy and wonderful surprises.

As each of us takes a unique path in our life experiencing this year we are privileged to have many choices that will affect us. Our decisions not only affect us they affect the people around us that our life touches.

Some choices we have on any action we take are easy and mundane. Others are difficult and may take considerable planning to accomplish our goals with success. Some opportunities we have require taking planned risks to achieve the fruitful benefits. Other responsibilities that some people need to prioritize into goals are to assist family members and friends who may require additional assistance. It is best to understand some people we attempt to help do not realize they need help or even more perplexing some people do not want to accept any assistance due to a variety of reasons. In my opinion the most difficult thing to do when faced with the heartbreaking experience of attempting to assist people who do not realize they need assistance or do not want it is to let go and stop attempting to assist within reason, no matter how difficult it is to see these people in need. This letting go is critical to preserve energy and limited time for the many other goals you want to successfully accomplish.

With the abundance of choices available I realize prioritizing my time to worry about what I can and want to have an effect on is a balancing act.  What I want to accomplish and what may help me and my family, friends, colleagues and employer for goals is also a part of the balancing act. I can compare this balancing of priorities and goals to walking on a tight rope under a colorful big top tent in a circus while balancing on a rope far above the ground even though I have never attempted walking a tight rope. One false step or incorrect choice and I can lose my balance and fall to the ground thus completely failing at my attempt to achieve my goal. Without proper preparation, concentration and a sense of confidence I could slip off the rope however with luck quickly grab the rope and pull myself backup into the standing position thus wasting precious energy and time completing the goal. With the proper tenacity, attitude and skills I can successfully accomplish my goal of balancing and walking across the tight rope with ease and grace. I understand that not all people have the ability to physically walk on the tight rope I describe just like I can’t physically see the colorful big top tent I am walking under (I am completely blind). In my example I hope you can imagine my analogy no matter what your ability is. 

Like many others I plan to complete goals this year that include balancing priorities, taking calculated risks, learning new skills and accepting new challenges/opportunities to improve my positioning for success and happiness. One of my goals I plan to complete shortly is to have surgery on my right hip and have a total hip replacement due to Avascular Necrosis.

After my surgery and recovery my goal is to get relief from continuous pain and enjoy my family without the distraction of the pain or the inability to be as mobile as I need to be. I intend to participate in activities such as enjoying hiking blind and concentrate on my professional and personal life without the distraction of constant pain. I also plan to accept and complete the rehabilitation needed to give me the best possibility of walking again with minimum of limitation. For those who are not aware of my history I have had the opportunity to learn to walk again after a critical medical condition took my ability to walk for approximately one year. That previous challenge was much different than the reasons I will need this time to relearn how to walk again. Hopefully I will be able to leverage the lessons learned. 

Let’s all climb up a ladder under a large, brightly colored big top tent and walk across the tight rope with confidence and a perfect balance of priorities in order to make it safely across to our rewarding and gratifying goals in this new year.

Does anyone have any goals you plan to accomplish and want to share along with the reasons why they are important to you? We all look forward to hearing from you to start our new year together.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton  

Celebrate Holidays, Assist the Less Fortunate and Plan for the New Year

As the year transitions to closure I hope we can reprioritize what tasks we feel are the most valuable to allow us to take time to celebrate the holidays with colleagues, neighbors, friends and family. The closure of the year gives us an excellent opportunity to not only plan for renewal with the arrival of the New Year but also puts additional focus on assisting people in need during the holidays.

I feel we all should take every opportunity to learn and grow and this time of year provides many opportunities to share the gift of ourselves with extra incentive to celebrate life, family and friendships. I feel that having the mind-set of generosity and the willingness and enjoyment of sharing the gift of ourselves contributes to better health and well being. I believe this positively enhances our professional and personal lives. Taking the time to care for others less fortunate not only touches those we are assisting it also provides us with an invaluable chance to learn and grow from others’ experiences and knowledge. This could be the extra help a person needs to assist them in getting over or through some difficult times to enable them to be all they can be and strive to be.

As we get ready for year end and prepare to participate in holiday celebrations we should also prepare to assist those in need and set our personal and professional goals to catapult us into the New Year. We should do this with passion, renewed drive and a mind-set to pursue and accomplish our dreams and goals. We should however not overlook the need to plan and incorporate this mind-set into our inner values to help us succeed in whatever goals we want to achieve.

As I have learned we should not overlook life altering events that could cause our lives to go in a completely different direction than we had planned for. Such an occurrence might require us to add the completion of additional training or living modifications into our goals to adapt as best as possible to our new life situation in order to achieve our personal and professional goals. To prepare emotionally for such life altering changes we should anticipate such events and understand everything will not be as easy or comfortable as we might like or are accustomed to. However with the proper support from people around us these life altering changes might be a little more tolerable as we learn to adapt to our life situation.

How will you celebrate the holidays, share yourself with others and commemorate the end of the year? Do you plan to assist the less fortunate or those in need during this holiday season? How will you plan for a joyous and bountiful New Year? We all look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton, Contributing Author

Global Dialogue Center http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

 Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

 Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Helen Keller Achievement Awards & Exploring NYC Without Eyesight

In June, I was grateful to be invited by my employer to attend a Helen Keller Achievement Awards Ceremony / Dinner presented by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) in New York City, NY (NYC), with my wife Kathy, colleagues and other attendees. This trip was my second opportunity to travel on a commercial airline since losing all of my eyesight. After I received the invitation to attend the event, I immediately started my planning and preparation to facilitate a successful trip that would hopefully be as trouble free as possible. I describe my trip preparation in a past blog post I wrote entitled Employee of the Year.

At the Helen Keller Achievement Awards Ceremony / Dinner I truly enjoyed listening to the people who introduced the award recipients, describing the work the recipients do to assist the visually impaired or blind by improving the quality of life, enhancing job opportunities by reducing barriers by increasing accessibility. I also enjoyed listening to the recipients humbly accept their awards and explain some of what they did to achieve this meaningful recognition.

The following day I was invited to go to AFB’s corporate headquarters and take a tour through the Helen Keller archives museum and meet with AFB. Being completely blind myself and belonging to some blind / low vision organizations in my local area, I have heard a few things about Helen Keller. During the tour I was pleased to learn many new things about Helen Keller. Now I have a better understanding of what a wonderful and remarkable person she was, and how she has helped change the world to assist blind, visually impaired, deaf, and hard of hearing, as well as many other people.

SIGHTSEEING with My Wife: The Art of Using All My Senses
This was my first trip to NYC, therefore I wanted to take advantage of my short time in-between meetings and award ceremonies to see (sense) some sights. With my wife Kathy’s assistance we walked on foot paths next to the Hudson River near the 911 Memorial towards Battery Park. Kathy described many wonderful statues, memorials, flowers, trees, old iron fences, old fashion street lamps, and other beautiful and distinctive old style architecture built with many bricks. I took the time to touch some of these objects so I could sense their texture and physical size. This enabled me to more accurately imagine what these objects looked like in my minds-eye. She also described the color and perceived depth and width of the river, as she also described the Statue of Liberty at a distance across the river. She also described the many ferries and boats on the river, and helicopters flying above the river. The same day after our AFB meeting and tour we walked from Madison Square Garden and Pennsylvania (PENN) Station to 26th Street then towards 51st Street, Madison Avenue, Broadway Avenue and many streets in-between. On 34th Street Kathy described Macy’s department store (the largest in the world we were told). She also described the Empire State Building, Time square, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We went into St. Patrick’s Cathedral and since it was a warm day the cool temperature in the Cathedral was an exhilarating and pleasant treat. We walked throughout this remarkable large old Cathedral as Kathy described the many carvings, statues and stained glass windows. To help me visualize how large this Cathedral is in my minds-eye I felt one of the very large columns that held up a portion of the large roof. The column was so large I could not wrap my arms around it, and it felt like it was made of stone, or a concrete material. I took this opportunity to sit down on one of the many pews in the Cathedral and prayed. After we left the Cathedral we passed Radio City Music Hall, many other landmarks and numerous stores. I truly applaud my wife’s site guiding technique and expertise, walking through NYC, evading hundreds of people, obstacles, yellow cabs, cars, and crossing busy streets with a variety of Hard (90 degree angles) and (Soft) curb cuts that gently sloped down at each intersection. All of this navigation was accomplished while at times I could not hear Kathy’s verbal instructions warning me about upcoming obstacles due to the loud traffic, and sirens from police cars and fire engines. Luckily I have learned to feel Kathy’s body movement with either my left hand on her right shoulder, or right upper arm with my right hand on my support cane while she sight guides me. With this technique I can react to her body movement and not rely on any verbal cues. By the time we did our very quick walking tour of mid town New York, it was getting close to dinner so we searched for a taxi. After observing which streets had the most taxies driving down the streets, we strategically placed ourselves on one of these streets in a location in which a taxi could easily pull up to the curb. By using this technique we soon found a taxi to take us back to our hotel in time for a wonderful dinner with a co-worker. After our wonderful meal and great conversations we went back to our hotel and prepared to leave for home the next day.

The Rest of the Story
Kathy and I had an incredible time listening to the remarkable people who were recognized for their work and received the Helen Keller Achievement Awards, listening about the valuable work AFB is doing to help the blind, visually impaired and visiting NYC briefly. Everyone we met on our trip was thoughtful, courteous and seemed to celebrate life and companionship.

A few days after we returned home we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We honored and celebrated our life together, our companionship, devotion and our never ending love that will continue for all eternity. Read another blog post I wrote about our 20th Anniversary entitled:
Anniversaries: What they mean to you.

Have you had the opportunity to take a tour with assistance? This assistance does not need to be sight guiding or verbal descriptions, like the invaluable assistance I received. Maybe you have other challenges or disabilities which require other types of assistance when traveling and sightseeing you want to share? Has anyone attended or received a Helen Keller Achievement Award? Any other thoughts or comments?

We look forward to your comments to help us all grow personally and professionally, and expand our knowledge and awareness.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton
Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

That What You Manifest Is Before You

I recently listened to an audio version of the book The Art of Racing in the Rain. Although I am completely blind, I enjoy motorsports racing, as I describe in Day at the Races. I also benefit from the companionship of animals. The combination of these and other topics resonate with me in this book.

I can relate to Enzo's mantra: "That which you manifest is before you." As the author Garth Stein notes on The Art of Racing in the Rain FAQ, “I think it's very important to take charge of your life, not to feel like you're a victim of circumstance or fate, but that you are an active participant in your future.”

You can most likely think of examples of where taking charge of your own life helped you manifest your own destiny, instead of waiting on others to do so, and possibly resulting in an outcome that was not beneficial and did not produce the results you had wished for.

I believe one example where I took charge of my own life and manifested the outcome, was when I returned to employment after an extremely critical medical condition which almost took my life.

After a seven month hospital stay, without a doubt in my mind, I planned on returning to employment as soon as I could. I did not let the fact I could not walk without aids for a period of one year after leaving the hospital, lost all vision and was now completely blind, and had to learn many new skills deter me from succeeding in my dream. I did not let the victimized mind-set take complete control; although I had many challenges and obstacles to overcome. I focused my energy, learning many new skills and meeting many new people expanding my network, enabling me to expedite my education, leaving no time to dwell on my life’s changing events and feeling like I was a victim. When I talked with many new instructors and others, my words reflected my positive attitude about returning to meaningful employment as the new person I had become.

 

What will you manifest in your personal or professional life? How can we assist each other not to feel like we are a victim of circumstance or fate? We all look forward to hearing your suggestions, examples and comments.

 

Let’s all live our life with the attitude of Enzo's mantra to help manifest our dreams into reality.

 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Trust; Walking Without Eyesight

During a leisurely walk on a route I take frequently for exercise and relaxation, I contemplate the importance of trust. I believe the mind-set of trust can be in a person’s own ability, self-confidence, faith, or in others to do the “right thing”.

 

The thought of trust and the value of it occurs frequently when I pass certain locations on a local walking route.

 

I am completely blind and walk with a white support cane in my left hand and in my right hand I swing a long white cane.  I use my long cane to detect obstacles and receive feedback about the surface I am walking on from the cane tip as it touches the ground on every swing. I am constantly listening to the environmental sounds to help with orientation by remembering unique sound landmarks and utilizing auditory senses to detect obstacles by interpreting sound waves as they travel from their source and bounce off surfaces. Soon I hear the noise of motor vehicles passing in front of me getting closer and closer at a perpendicular angle. This is an indication that I am reaching a cross street. Feeling the light prick on my left hand from a sharp Yucca leaf that hangs over the sidewalk causes me to quickly feel my hand for possible injury (blood or deep scratches). I do not feel anything out of the ordinary, so I continue my leisurely walk with a chuckle and a smile.  Not far after passing the Yucca plant I slightly touch a fence to my left with my cane as the sidewalk slopes down and turns left onto another street and I reach a curb cut for a wheelchair access ramp.  I hear noticeably more motor vehicles passing me, going much faster than they were on the street I had just left. My senses and long cane tell me this part of the sidewalk is narrow because I cannot swing my cane to the left too far without hitting a fence, or feeling an abrupt drop off to my right with my cane tip.

 

When I explore this part of the route I discover the sidewalk is a considerable distance above the street which reinforces the need to pay attention so I do not accidently step off the curb. As I get closer to the next corner the motor vehicles are even closer, due to the fact they are coming from the west and turning to the south (cutting the corner). At this point the sidewalk slopes down for a curb cut for a ramp that gently turns to the left as the sidewalk abruptly ends. I carefully step off the curb paying attention to the direction I was walking to enable me to make an accurate direction adjustment, angling my walk to the left slightly enabling me to find a footpath rather than walking into the motor vehicles just in front of me.  Just after stepping off the sidewalk in search of the asphalt footpath, I cautiously walk through grass and dirt sensing hidden obstacles with my feet and canes. I soon feel my feet touch something solid as I then hear the tap of my cane against a hard surface alerting me I have reached the footpath. Feeling the border of the path with my feet I turn left and continue my leisurely and joyful walk.

 

Not long after I get my rhythm going, my cane hits something metallic sounding and very solid causing my body to slightly collide with the obstacle from my forward momentum. I explore the unknown object with my cane while attempting to figure out what could be blocking the footpath.  After some investigation I determine the obstacle is a vehicle parked across the footpath. As I maneuver around the vehicle towards the left, so I do not walk into motor vehicles passing on the street to my right, suddenly my cane hits another metallic obstacle. This obstacle does not sound or feel (with my cane) as solid as the vehicle, although this obstacle has blocked me from continuing down the path. I attempt to find a way around the two obstacles, when I hear a voice speak to me in a language I do not understand. I ask this person I do not know with self confidence and friendliness in my voice, if the path around to the left is clear.  This person answers me in their language which I do not understand. I then feel a trusting and caring hand touch my arm and gently guide me safely around the obstacles. At this point I remember, at times, a person would set up a stand to sell fruit at this corner, and the stand and their vehicle might be what the obstacles are. As I maneuver around the vehicle and other obstacle I ask the friendly person if they are selling strawberries.  This caring person understands the word strawberries and responds “yes”.

 

As I continue my peaceful and exhilarating walk I listen to the babbling creek to my right, and light breeze blowing through the leaves in the trees' canopies. I imagine in my mind’s eye what these images looked like when I had eyesight as I smile with remembrance of the beauty of nature. Suddenly I hear the sound of a bicycle coming up from behind me. Staying calm I demonstrate faith and trust that the rider would see me and my white canes. I slowly move to one side and stop to wait for the bicycle to safely pass. After I hear the bicycle pass very close, I say “hi” to the rider as I wave in their direction and continue my relaxing walk.  The silence of nature and solitude is interrupted by the sound of feet hitting the ground and quiet human breathing coming towards me, providing awareness a jogger is approaching. I continue to walk trusting the jogger will see me and not run into me, but move to one side of the path to allow the jogger room to run by as I say “hello”.

 

As I continue my relaxing walk, the path gently starts to slope down and gradually turns to the left, then to the right. This change of direction and slope is my landmark to start searching for the end of the paved path to enable me to find the sidewalk on the next street. Soon I do not feel anymore dirt border to the left of the path with my cane   alerting me I have passed the end of the path and have started to cross the street. At this point I quickly and abruptly turn to the left and walk back in the direction I had come from, at an angle that will enable my route to end up near the intersection of the street and the sidewalk. Suddenly I touch a dirt border with my feet and cane and follow the border until I feel a curb rise up with my cane tip or my foot (whatever hits it first). I carefully step up on the curb using my support cane to assist. I am now safely half way on my relaxing journey.

 

Continuing my joyful walk, I anticipate the possibility of running into obstacles to keep me alert, providing practice negotiating obstacles, improving my orientation and mobility and cherishing the gratitude of meeting friendly people.  Soon my walk is over leaving me with the desire to take another joyful lap around the block. Every time I go on a walk I am reminded how grateful I am to have the ability to walk.  This attitude comes from knowing what it feels like not being able to walk, get outside or move at all without great difficulty. This is because the same medical condition that took my eyesight away caused me to be unable to walk for one year while I regained my strength and learned how to walk again. I am also grateful I demonstrated faith and self-confidence when the medical specialists told me I would never walk again, and I decided to pursue my dreams of walking again.

 

Do you have examples of when you demonstrated trust? What did you learn from trusting your own ability, self-confidence, trusting others to do the “right thing” or believing in your faith? Do you have any tips to help us increase our trust?

 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

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