What does adaptation mean to you?

I just finished watching the movie "Murderball" which is a true documentary about the wheelchair rugby competition in the world paralympics. If you are feeling down and out for whatever reason (even albeit trivial) I highly recommend you watch this inspirational film. Heck, even if you are as happy as a tart and everything is going just grand, I still think everyone should watch this movie to get a better perspective on life.

I have to admit at times the language can be harsh (sensor children) but it is definitely real. People who have character, perserverence, and endure hardship are only human afterall.

One particular narration touched my heart and I could very distantly relate to his experience in my own way. The man lost his limbs (arms, hands, and legs) at about the age of 9 due to a very rare form of early meningitis infection. He describes a dream he was having where he was flying all over like a bird. In his dream, he could see himself with real limbs (arms, legs, hands and all). He said the dream was so real that he did not want to wake up from it. After his statement I could read the slight reminisce of grief and sadness in his eyes. He is happy and functions better than probably most able bodied people. Yet there are still moments of reflecting back over the person before his illness.

I too have had dreams about who I was before but I dreamed that I was doing those things now. The dreams were fantastic and I did not want to wake either. I have had many dreams but a few that were most vivid were of driving my motorcycle (which sits in the garage) along a long stretch of beach, rollerblading for miles, and returning to where I grew up in Michigan and riding against the sunset on my 10 speed bike like I often did as a teen.

I have also had dreams of listening to music that I swear was real if I had not been in a state of unconsciousness. It is funny also because I have dreams where I tell people that I am deaf, yet in my dream I am still able to hear sounds.

There was another player who described when he first came home from the hospital as a quadriplegic. He had played soccer for a college team and had been a very active person. At home he would look at pictures of himself playing sports and able bodied. It was then that the reality started to set in for him that things were going to be different. He was not going to go back to same person he was before.

I too looked and still look at photos of things I used to be able to do. Back in October I saw a picture of myself skipping from rock to rock (large ones) over a river in the Alps of Italy. It was horrifying and surreal to realize that was me just a couple years ago. It is a stunning realization that I am changed and cannot go back.

I think all people who suddenly endure a physical or mental challenge such as NF2, losing a sensation, or losing full physical ability have moments of being human. It is only natural to feel that way.

In the documentary, each of the athletes who had been subjected to a spinal cord injury, made a conscious choice to continue on and develop a quality life. They are not able to do the same things the same way as before but they have learned to adapt and survive.

I have read of different celebrities who have undergone their own burdens (Christopher Reeve with spinal cord injury, Michael J Fox with Parkinson's disease, and Melissa Etheridge with Breast Cancer just to name a few). I have come to find a common connection between these athletes and the above mentioned celebrities. Although they have openly admitted that their circumstance was not choosen nor a walk in the park , they have all felt they became better people and their lives have been enhanced because of it. They all made a conscious decision, to pick themselves up from their wallow and to continue making the best of what they have.

Yes, although I am only human and do have moments of swearing out of frustration and self pity, I too choose to have a quality life. While I may not be able to go back to the same things I had before (good balance, nondistorted vision, hearing and very good memory), I am finding ways to adjust and do things differently. I have learned that life is about adaptation if ones seeks out happiness and contentment. One must learn to change with the ebb and flood of the tides.