I’ve been using my spiffy circle graphic to encourage you to engage with RICH’S RIDE. The bike represents the opportunity to come to Florida and ride along with us for a few days or contact a friend who lives there and might want to crank a few miles.
I hope you’ll consider those possibilities. I realize this craziness isn’t for everyone, but I think there’s a bigger issue we can talk about.
I’ve no idea how many times Becky or I have mentioned this possibility to someone and heard, “That would be so great! I’d love to, but I can’t because…”
I think maybe the saddest spot in the universe is a place called I CAN’T.
I lived full-time in the land of I CAN’T for more than a decade after my injury. Residents define themselves by inability, disability, and impossibility. It’s a dark, negative place from which it’s difficult to escape because, well, you can’t.
First, let’s be realistic. After a discussion about following dreams, a kid once asked a typical eighth-grade–boy question.
“Suppose my dream is to flap my arms and fly. Are you saying I can do that if I try hard enough?” I didn’t have a good response. Here’s what I wish I’d said.
No, I don’t think he can flap his arms and fly. I also don’t believe I’ll ever dunk a basketball, unless someone invents a jetpack-powered wheelchair. Those are obvious physical realities that can only be ignored by Jiminy Cricket.
I CAN’T is the hopeless place where an old guy who’s been a quadriplegic for a quarter-century doesn’t attempt 1500-mile handcycle rides. It’s the place where a poor kid doesn’t aspire to an Ivy League university, where one person doesn’t even try to stop bullying behavior.
I CAN’T is the place you don’t even try to write a better story with your own life, where you’re stuck in and determined by circumstances, expectations, and self-imposed limitations.
I’m not saying everyone ought to drop what they’re doing and come to Florida in February, just because I say so. I’m not even saying anyone ought to do that. I am asking if it’s really true that you can’t.
Words have power. They matter.
What if you can, but you’re making a different choice? Perhaps you’d like to ride your bike in Florida, but you love your job more. Perhaps you choose to spend time with your family rather than with Becky, Monte, and me.
I’m not suggesting you should ride bikes with us in Florida, though we’d love to have you.
I am recommending I CHOOSE as a healthier neighborhood than I CAN’T.
If you want to avoid taking responsibility for your own life, just say, “I’ve got responsibilities.”
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A couple of cool additions to the 1000 Challenge:
Clark is making a list of 1000 things for which he’s thankful
Kristin has committed to tell 1000 individuals–in person–about RICH’S RIDE.
What can you do 1000 of?
Please leave a comment here.
