the Way of the Turtle

Inspirational!
Thursday, October 27, 2011

One of the news stories that popped up on my home page today described a teenager in Ohio who has lost her sight due to Stargardt's Disease. Initially it looked like she would have to give up running cross country, but over the summer she entered a program to work with a specially trained guide dog, with the eventual goal of allowing her to run again. After surmounting the additional hurdle of getting permission from the Ohio High School Athletic Association to compete with the assistance of a guide dog, she is once again running on cross country meets. More details can be found here.

When I forwarded the story to several of my colleagues, one responded with the story of a local student who was blind and ran cross country with the help of a human guide, wrestled, hiked up major mountains, and water skied.

Sometimes I find myself wanting to gripe and moan about sore knees, or aching legs, or any of a multitude of minor annoyances that pop up when I run (or afterwards.) Folks like this remind me that I've got it mighty darn good, and I should just shut up, suck it up, and stop feeling sorry for myself.

JMH