As of May 1st, 2017, my blog is now located on my website:
http://www.tritodefi.com/blog/
I hope you can join me there :-)
Monday, May 1, 2017
Sunday, February 26, 2017
A Lesson in Resilience
My beautiful
spotted and four legged dalmatian friend, Chester, is 12 years old. Not
long after his birthday he started to struggle staying upright. His hind
legs just didn't seem to work properly anymore. He would wobble and
stumble, and sometimes fall. Two weekends ago, it got worse. He started falling over more; his back end collapsing under him as he walked. He could no longer climb up on to the sofa and his feet would drag along behind him. A few vet visits later, including a consult with a canine neurologist, he was diagnosed with intervertebral disc disease. Basically, he has a number of herniated discs, one of which is causing him some pain and weakness in his hind legs. Surgery to fix the problem is full of risk, and would be hard on his body. Bed rest has therefore been prescribed. Our full of beans dog must stay inactive for at least 4 weeks so that the discs can heal.
Despite the stress of this situation, I am constantly amazed at Chester's tenacity and resilience. He has not lost his sparkle. He is as happy, go lucky as he has ever been. His light still shines extraordinarily brightly. Prior to his mandated bed rest, Chester bounced around the house despite the fact his body didn't really allow him to do so. He tried to get up on the sofa, even though he didn't have the strength. He will not be deterred. He falls over, but gets right back up again. He wobbles, but keeps moving forward. He has just adapted, or maybe just accepted, that his mobility is what it is, and it isn't going to stop him from being a dog. His exuberance is unbounded and it's humbling to see.
His energy and love for life doesn't allow him to accept limits. This is, of course, good and bad, especially when inactivity is critical for his healing. His worldview is not shaped by his new limits and he is just refusing to be different. He has every reason to be sad, or frustrated about this sudden change in mobility, but he just isn't. We have much to learn from our black and white spotted tail wagger.
Around the same time as Chester's illness, I developed another running related injury - a possible stress fracture in the lateral malleolus. I am currently in a boot and there is no running for me. I like to think, however inconvenient the timing, it is a sympathetic injury experienced in solidarity with my best pal. However, I have responded differently to it than Chester has to his change in ability. My issue is temporary, Chester's may not be. And yet, he continues unfazed. I, on the other hand, feel down that I can't run and had to miss a race.
I want to be like Chester; I want to adapt and continue onwards. I have a new set of circumstances, and that is just the way it is until it isn't anymore. So be it. I think we all have much to learn from our canine friends, and this is probably not new information for the dog lovers out there. Resilience for, and management of, change can be taken in stride if we allow ourselves to respond that way. As runners and triathletes, we can get so hung up on our goals that any impediment or barrier we face can derail our spirit completely. Instead, we should embrace the new circumstance and develop a solution that keeps us moving forward. There is a lesson for me in Chester's response to his new circumstance, and I am trying hard to internalize it. I think we would all be better if we could channel some of Chester's energy right now; keep moving forward and fighting, in spite of the challenges presented.
Despite the stress of this situation, I am constantly amazed at Chester's tenacity and resilience. He has not lost his sparkle. He is as happy, go lucky as he has ever been. His light still shines extraordinarily brightly. Prior to his mandated bed rest, Chester bounced around the house despite the fact his body didn't really allow him to do so. He tried to get up on the sofa, even though he didn't have the strength. He will not be deterred. He falls over, but gets right back up again. He wobbles, but keeps moving forward. He has just adapted, or maybe just accepted, that his mobility is what it is, and it isn't going to stop him from being a dog. His exuberance is unbounded and it's humbling to see.
His energy and love for life doesn't allow him to accept limits. This is, of course, good and bad, especially when inactivity is critical for his healing. His worldview is not shaped by his new limits and he is just refusing to be different. He has every reason to be sad, or frustrated about this sudden change in mobility, but he just isn't. We have much to learn from our black and white spotted tail wagger.
Around the same time as Chester's illness, I developed another running related injury - a possible stress fracture in the lateral malleolus. I am currently in a boot and there is no running for me. I like to think, however inconvenient the timing, it is a sympathetic injury experienced in solidarity with my best pal. However, I have responded differently to it than Chester has to his change in ability. My issue is temporary, Chester's may not be. And yet, he continues unfazed. I, on the other hand, feel down that I can't run and had to miss a race.
I want to be like Chester; I want to adapt and continue onwards. I have a new set of circumstances, and that is just the way it is until it isn't anymore. So be it. I think we all have much to learn from our canine friends, and this is probably not new information for the dog lovers out there. Resilience for, and management of, change can be taken in stride if we allow ourselves to respond that way. As runners and triathletes, we can get so hung up on our goals that any impediment or barrier we face can derail our spirit completely. Instead, we should embrace the new circumstance and develop a solution that keeps us moving forward. There is a lesson for me in Chester's response to his new circumstance, and I am trying hard to internalize it. I think we would all be better if we could channel some of Chester's energy right now; keep moving forward and fighting, in spite of the challenges presented.
Chester investigating my new ankle brace/boot
Friday, February 17, 2017
Make Another Choice
A recent podcast about the five senses, introduced me to Isaac Lidsky, who at age 25, completely lost his vision. He was interviewed on the podcast and snippets of his Ted Talk were interspersed throughout the interview (link below). At the time of losing his vision completely, he recalls that he felt his life was over. He would never be able to do the things he wanted to do. Life as he knew it, was forever changed, and not for the better. Years later, with a law degree, law practice, and countless other achievements, he talks about how resolute he was in the belief that nothing good could arise out of his blindness. And how very wrong he was.
"To me, it's more about choosing what reality you want to live for yourself. So this really was the profound insight that really made losing my sight a great blessing in my life. I felt I was living a race against the clock, a race against time, a race against blindness until I decided to really take control of my own reality."
What I found most profound or enlightening about his insight was this:
For Lidsky, going blind gave him vision, as he understands it. It allowed him to live with his eyes wide open in ways he had not been able to do when he had his sight. He shared his learning:
What Lidsky outlined about fear and choice is also relevant right now, today, in our current social, political, and cultural climate. Powerfully relevant. Fear of the "other" and its explicit reification in policy is at a peak. This fear is largely directed at non-white Americans, immigrants, and refugees. In particular, the fear (white) people have of individuals from Muslim countries, and Muslim Americans is taking over. Many, many people are choosing to believe that all Muslim people are a threat to their safety. They are not choosing to see through those fears to a reality that doesn't support this claim. They are invested in the bogeyman story in this context because it's easier to give in to a fear, than it is to make a different choice, as Lidsky suggests we do. This hyper-exaggeration of a perceived threat and the resultant narrative of fear, is leading to heinous and oppressive initiatives that many argue are indisputably unconstitutional.
We each have choices. Our choices are different and complicated, and nuanced based on our identities and how we move through the world. And we still have choices about how we want to treat other people and be remembered. Choices about how and what we communicate or how we embrace challenge and change or eschew it. Lidsky ended his Ted Talk by quoting/paraphrasing Helen Keller: "the only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." I think right now, many of us who can see, lack vision because we are blanketed in our fears of something we don't truly understand: "terrain uncharted and undefined." Embrace difference, make different choices, and open yourself up to alternate possibilities.
Ted Radio Hour, "The Five Senses" (Jan 19, 2017). Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=510624029
"To me, it's more about choosing what reality you want to live for yourself. So this really was the profound insight that really made losing my sight a great blessing in my life. I felt I was living a race against the clock, a race against time, a race against blindness until I decided to really take control of my own reality."
What I found most profound or enlightening about his insight was this:
"whenever I felt afraid, I'd ask myself two questions - what precisely is my problem, and what precisely can I do about it? You know, I knew blindness was going to ruin my life [at 25], but that was a reality that I was choosing, that my mind had created for me, and I was choosing to believe. And I decided to make another choice."He decided to make another choice. Rather than following the pathway that places blindness as a deficiency, as something that is wrong or less than in comparison to having sight, he turned away from that narrative and chose something else. He identified his problem, and developed a solution. Sometimes, fear of the unknown controls us. We invent, speculate, and/or presume a variety of horrors will befall us when let fear reign. In our minds, fear of X is powerful and we give it credence over any other possible reality or outcome. We miss the less gloomy side of the coin: that the event, behavior, situation, or activity that we fear may actually bring us new insight, experience, and knowledge.
For Lidsky, going blind gave him vision, as he understands it. It allowed him to live with his eyes wide open in ways he had not been able to do when he had his sight. He shared his learning:
"See beyond your fears, they are your excuses, rationalizations, shortcuts, justifications, your surrender. Choose to see through them, choose to let them go. You are the creator of your reality. With that empowerment comes complete responsibility. I chose to step out of fear's tunnel into terrain uncharted and undefined."His words and sentiments resonate with me personally as I continue on my journey of starting my own business, believing I can be a research and evaluation project lead, or being a competitive triathlete. The what ifs, fear of failure, and associated worry sometimes pushing me closer to giving up than I would like to admit.
What Lidsky outlined about fear and choice is also relevant right now, today, in our current social, political, and cultural climate. Powerfully relevant. Fear of the "other" and its explicit reification in policy is at a peak. This fear is largely directed at non-white Americans, immigrants, and refugees. In particular, the fear (white) people have of individuals from Muslim countries, and Muslim Americans is taking over. Many, many people are choosing to believe that all Muslim people are a threat to their safety. They are not choosing to see through those fears to a reality that doesn't support this claim. They are invested in the bogeyman story in this context because it's easier to give in to a fear, than it is to make a different choice, as Lidsky suggests we do. This hyper-exaggeration of a perceived threat and the resultant narrative of fear, is leading to heinous and oppressive initiatives that many argue are indisputably unconstitutional.
We each have choices. Our choices are different and complicated, and nuanced based on our identities and how we move through the world. And we still have choices about how we want to treat other people and be remembered. Choices about how and what we communicate or how we embrace challenge and change or eschew it. Lidsky ended his Ted Talk by quoting/paraphrasing Helen Keller: "the only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." I think right now, many of us who can see, lack vision because we are blanketed in our fears of something we don't truly understand: "terrain uncharted and undefined." Embrace difference, make different choices, and open yourself up to alternate possibilities.
Ted Radio Hour, "The Five Senses" (Jan 19, 2017). Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=510624029
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