Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day.  Wishing everybody in the States a wonderful "end of summer" weekend while celebrating America's workforce.

Reminder that the eBook version of Toe Up to 10K is scheduled to be released on September 5, 2014.

What will happen is, on Tuesday, I will authorize the distributor to release the ebook to eretailers, and it will take approximately 2 - 4 days to appear on Amazon, and then 1 - 4 weeks on other eBookstore sites. So, technically, the book can go on sale as early as September 4, or it might take up to September 8 for it to first appear.

To the best of my ability, I will try and set it up so that you can order a copy from the distributor through my website.

As Monday is a holiday, the next post will probably not be until September 2 or 3.

  

Tristan's Road to Recovery

 A few days ago, I came across, via a Facebook posting from Life After Spinal Cord Injury a FB page about a young man who had a diving accident and broke his neck in late July, 2014.

I do believe one of the greatest benefit of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter is to allow strangers to interact with each other in a positive way.  By creating the page, the family has let us strangers into their lives so we can provide support.

I want to do my part in passing along the page.  Please visit the page, and I encourage you to send your support and encouragement to this brave young man and his family and friends.

Tristan's Road to Recovery

Toe Up to 10K sale date 9 Days Away

The ebook version of Toe Up to 10K is ready to be released, but I am waiting until after Labor day to release it.  So, the date for release is September 5, maybe it will be out on some ebook retailers on September 4.  Once the distributor releases it to the e-retailers, it is up to the e-retailers to post the book to their sites, and that can take 48-72 hours or more.

The physical version of the book, the proof is ready. There is an issue I need to get an answer to, and depending on the answer, it might also be out on September 5, or perhaps a couple of weeks later.

However, the good news is the production of the books is progressing and it looks like it will be on sale very soon.

Great Resource website: Spinalpedia

Spinalpedia is a great resource website.  I wish I had found it before I completed my book, Toe Up to 10K.

I couldn't find any better way of describing the site, so below, i copied and pasted their blurb about what they are:

SPINALpedia is a social mentoring network and video archive that allows the spinal cord injury community to motivate each other with the knowledge and triumphs gained from our individual experiences.


Here is the link:
Spinalpedia

Evolution of Reasoning Behind Toe Up to 10K

When I was in the hospital, I wanted to have a baseline to compare my recovery.  I wanted to know wanted to know when my legs would start to move, when my bladder and bowels would recover, when I would be strong enough to stand, etc.

Except for that I would probably spend a year in a wheelchair and that I would be walking "well enough: in two years (and this was stated when it was thought I had Guillain-Barre syndrome).  And no answer to when and how the bladder/bowel would recover.

Finding info on regaining the ability to walk wasn't so bad.  There were some stories of people were able to walk again, but there were other stories of people who were still not able to so after some years, and some who took several years to regain enough strength to stand.  However, just finding stories of walking recovery were difficult to find.

As far as bowel and bladder recovery, I found even less info.

So, initially, I wanted to share my chronology.  I know everybody recovers at a different pace, and the amount of recovery differs among individuals, and the issues differ depending on where the injury(ies) took place, but if I contributed my story, there would be at least a record of how, how long, and how much I recovered from my issues. 

But as I wrote the book, and as I experienced a rather rapid pace towards "normal enough," my theme seemed to change from providing my story to which others can compare to, to providing an inspirational and motivational piece for someone who finds him/herself in a similar situation - and reach out to those who have issues other than physical, and perhaps use the same strategies I did (finding inspiration, movitation and working towards goals) to overcome his/her obstacles - with the one advantage I did not have, which is the trial and error I went through to find the right mind-set and action-set.

So, what I think I ended up, with Toe Up to 10K, is a book, superficially chronicles the timeline and progress I made during my recovery, but is really about how I drew inspiration and motivated myself to recover as best as I could.  I realize that I've had a remarkable recovery, and I know not all of it is due to own hard work - that my body responded to some intangibles, but I don't think I would have recovered as well as I have without the work I put into recovery - and ultimately, I just wanted to share my story, for I believe each story of a successful builds upon other people's stories and provides inspiration for those who found themselves in the same situation I found myself in two years ago.       

Affirmations

When I was in high school and college, and even into my thirties, I had periods which I recited affirmations on a daily basis.  They wouldn't always be the same, but one I became reacquainted with recently is an old stand-by.  I remember first coming across it in a self-hypnosis tape I listened to so much that the ribbon finally broke years ago.  But this particular affirmation, whom I don't know is the original author, I've come across this same affirmation from different sources on the internet recently.

It goes like this:  "Everyday in every way, I am better and better."  

Recently, I have started repeated this affirmation several times upon I waking up and before I go to sleep.  Of course, sometimes I forget, but I try to remember each day.

I don't know how how long this will last, but for now, it makes me feel good, and motivates me.  

Inspiration from helpful strangers - Twitter

Twitter is a strange place.  About 99% of the people I follow or who follow me, I don't know personally,  yet I read their tweets, RT, favorite, and sometimes reply to the tweets.  Sometimes this is where I get breaking news, as someone will tweet about it before I hear about it on the news. But its main use for me is to find books to read, and to read interesting quotes (tweets), mainly the inspirational, motivational, and sometimes whimsical ones.

This blogpost is about one particular tweet that was relevant to me on several levels.  So, here it goes as best as I can explain it.  @BruceVH  @themovingroad

 I follow life coach and runner Bruce Van Horn on Twitter.  I follow him because his tweets have an inspirational and motivational quality to them.

So, earlier this week, he tweeted about a paralyzed man in the UK who blogged about Van Horn's book on training for a marathon, and how the book inspired him, and how he applied the tips to his own situation.

I opened up the tweet and read the blog post.  This man, Steven Webb, was a runner until he broke his neck.  Through Twitter, he "found" Van Horn, and eventually read his book on marathon training, and though the book itself is on marathon training, it can be applied to one's own situation.

After exploring his blog, I found out that Webb is writing about his experiences with paralysis, one project seems to be a book in progress titled, The Moving Road.  He has other writings available, including a blog he maintains.

Now how did this apply to me?

1. In 2012, directly or indirectly from meningitis, my spinal cord was damaged.  Fortunately, my time in a wheelchair was limited to four months. So, here was an instant connection to Webb.

2.  During my recovery process, a goal I have set for myself is to someday be well enough to run a 10K race.  I'm at the point where I can walk as fast as I can before I got sick, can actually jog, but I really can't sprint. I can, but I can't - it's hard to explain.  So, although I was already a Van Horn follower, the book Webb reviews, You Can Go the Distance, connects to me.

3. Webb writes that he applied some of the techniques to his own life, though the book is targeted at marathon training. One of the strategies I've used throughout my recovery has been to find inspiration from all sources, songs, movies, stories about others who have overcome obstacles, etc. It didn't matter whether the subject dealt with spinal cord injury or trying to reach the championship game in a high school baseball tournament - I've tried to apply these "lessons" to my own situation.

4.  Webb shares his experience through a blog, as do I, and also is writing a book.  Van Horn also shares his knowledge and experience through writing.  Before I got sick, I had two books out, and a third one, Toe Up to 10K, which will be out around September 5, is my book journaling my recovery process from spinal cord injury.   So, there is a fellowship of authors here, but more important is the sharing of our experiences.  When one finds him/herself in a situation, we want to learn what's next.  Everybody is different, and by reading about a variety of experiences, one can find commonality with others even though the exact circumstances may not be the same.  Writing about our own experiences may help others dealing with theirs.

So, one little tweet I read from a man I follow on Twitter, but never met on Wednesday morning affected me on several levels in a positive way.

Here is the book Webb blogged about, written by Van Horn
Click here












And here is the link to Steven Webb's blog
Steven Webb's blog


Finally, some shameless self promotion.  My book, Toe Up to 10K will be out around September 5.  Certainly in eBook format, and most likely, also available in physical format from some eBook retailers.