"Beautiful People Don't Just Happen"

First off, I'm going to start to include my current favorite songs on these posts, so if you want music while reading then scroll to the bottom and check out my current favorite "As We Ran" by the National Parks.  Alright so back to this post, my friend, Alyssa gave me a picture when I got home from the hospital with this quote printed on it, the picture is back at home in Naperville, so the actual picture and quote won't be posted here for awhile. Now I appreciated and loved the quote, but I don't think I fully appreciated the depth and meaning of it at the time because I had only begun to experience the loss and sorrow. It wasn't until after facing my darker days and come out stronger that Imore deeply understood and appreciated the quote.

We live in a society with an emphasis on physical and outward beauty and youth, but the most beautiful people I know are not the one's with flawless skin or the perfect waist band.

The most beautiful people I know are beautiful from the inside out,
they are people who are 

authentic and genuine, 

vulnerarble and brave, 

broken and beautiful.

Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose

For those who recognize the title of this post, yes, I'm a big time fan of Friday Night Lights. To my surprise when I first started watching the show the main character, Jason Street and I shared a similar bond, paralysis. What I love most about the main phrase of the show is that it mentions nothing about their physical strength - it's all about character and heart. Truly with clear eyes and a full heart we can't lose. I could go on and on about FNL, but that was not the purpose of this post.

"You were chosen not for your bodily characteristics, but for your spiritual attributes, such as bravery, courage, interigity of heart, thirst for truth, a hunger for wisdom and a desire to serve"

- Russle M. Nelson-

This is probably my current favorite quote. What a beautiful reminder that we are more than our bodies and physical attributes. In a world where we judge ourselves and others so quickly by appearances, here we are here reminded that we were not chosen by our bodily characteristics. 

Now, I've talked about my grieving process before, including the grieving of my old body. Now, for the most part, I don't look like a spinal chord injury, if I'm not in my wheelchair. In fact, there have been many, many times where people would come up to me and ask "knee surgery?" or "how long are you on crutches for?" The list of questions go on and on. I even get the occasional questioning of disability, "you're not paralyzed" or "you're too able-bodied to be here". And even the occasional child at the grocery store, "you're not a grandma", those are always funny. 

Before my accident, I may not have had the perfect body, but it allowed me to run, climb and explore and do the things I  enjoyed; and for that I loved it. My legs have not completely atrophied, since I'm able to weight bear and walk some, but they still are not the same toned legs and normal looking feet. Arm crutches, wheelchairs and braces don't make the cutest of accessories. And when it comes to shoes, that's been a whole new struggle, one of those struggles they didn't prepare me for in the hospital. They taught me how to manage curbs and how to care for myself, but I wasn't prepared for the change of wardrobe and lowering self-esteem I would face.

Before & After. Accessories featured : jewett brace, wheelchair, compression socks, moon boots & foley bag all courtesy of Craig Hospital. Fashion striped top- The Loft, and bball shorts Utah State University Track & Field - incase you thought this was a fashion blog 

Endless Abilites

A picture my brother captured during the interview http://vimeo.com/117846035

I'm sorry, but where did January go? I had this whole post typed up and I ended up deleting it all, so I'll try to make it as good, but I kind of lost motivation after it was all deleted. But here we go again...

First off, I want to give credit where it's deserved. And this group of guys deserve every bit of credit I can give. This group was filming a documentary called Endless Abilities and during their trip out to theWest Coast they stopped at Craig Hospital during my first few months stay there in Denver. They started on the East coast and made pit stops across the country and visited different amputees, SCI and others with disabilities. Throughout their journey they filmed their encounters and adventures and when they came to Craig Hospital we sat down for an interview.