Something New and Different for Me...

[Allison Joy]

Tonight I tried something new and different, and honestly a bit scary in a weird way. A few years ago, when I was at the mall, I saw the DASA "Ability Gym." DASA stands for Disabled Athlete Sports Association and they are all about adaptive sports. I thought that, perhaps, the gym could be beneficial to me, but kept hesitating. To be honest, I've never quite known how to answer the question, "Do you have a disability?" I mean, can I do everything I want and need to do without (much) assistance? Yes. Do I have some limitations? Yes. Can I fully participate in sports and activities with my "able-bodied" peers? No. I really can't. At least not on any "competitive" level. And I never considered myself to have an "official" diagnosis, because I was always told all my problems were related, but no one knew how. But now, I think it's pretty safe to say I could fall under the broad category of "orthopedic disability." So I inquired (way back in like... 2019) and was told that a lot of people have a similar story to mine... limitations, but no solid diagnosis. So I started the process and then "chickened out." I didn't want to be seen as taking advantage of something that I don't really qualify for. Well, a few weeks ago, I finally reached out again. I was assured by multiple people that, given my history, I would indeed qualify. In fact, when I expressed the hesitancy I mentioned above, one of them emailed me and said, "Would you like me to text a reminder to you to remind you that you are welcome to our events?!!

" They didn't have any spots open in the "Ability Gym," but they had other events I could try. So tonight, I participated in their "Bikes & Boats" event at a local park with a lake. I rode a recumbent trike for the first time, and did a bit of kayaking! For the biking, they have "Shadow Riders" who ride with you, to help you out, and kind of make sure no one runs you over. My Shadow Rider tonight was Macie. I'm still not sure I have the hang of the steering, and I may have only ridden 1/2 a mile, but I made it move! And I may have only kayaked for a few minutes and gone about 20 feet out, but I didn't get myself stranded in the middle of the lake (a legit fear of mine at first) I was super nervous, but also excited. Anyway, I had SO much fun, met some amazing people, and want to try again some time. And next week? I'm going to try rock climbing at Upper Limits with DASA.

 

[lanejudy]

Congrats for taking that big first step outside your comfort zone! You look great! I hope you enjoyed it enough to keep going to more events.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Hooray for being brave and adventurous! You go, girl! Very thankful that God blessed your day with new friends and fun.

 

[Allison Joy]

So... I should probably update this. I continued to go to the "Bikes and Boats" events, and also have done one rock climbing event with the organization.

So the first bikes and boats event that I posted above above, I did 1/2 a mile.
2nd time: Almost 2 miles
3rd time: Met my goal of doing the short loop around the lake, which is 3.74 miles
4th time: 2 miles, because I was trying to beat out a rain storm and didn't want to get exactly half-way around when the rain started.
5th time: Not yesterday but last Wednesday, I once again did the 3.74 mile loop.

This was the last Bikes and Boats of the season, and I already miss it.

They don't do the bikes in the fall or winter, mostly I think because of the number of volunteers it takes. But I think I will try to do some more of the rock climbing events, but that schedule doesn't work out quite as well for me.

These are pictures from the last time after I did the loop.






I am SO GLAD I got over this mental hump of getting involved. I enjoyed the recumbent trike much more that I thought I would.

 

[mamabunny]

I love that you are *so* happy in these pictures!