The Unexpected Summer of 2020

Making a new T-shirt available, creating a fun contest for readers to show off their favorite exercise, and doing some interviews about motivation with interesting people. That was how I expected to spend a good portion of the summer of 2020 to promote Reach Past Your Limits, my e-book intended to motivate readers to make exercise part of their lives.

Summer brought plenty of the
unexpected, including abandoning
my face shield for a mask to get a
buzz. Thanks to Super Cuts for the
help . . . and the cut!

I feel safe saying that I’m not alone in the fact that summer did not go as originally planned.

Two months after the book was published in January, everyone was making sweats their work-at-home attire instead of putting them on to hit the gym.

Yet, I still get excited every time someone gives Reach Past Your Limits a chance to help them. Efforts to create a T-shirt to go with the e-book have made some progress, and I’m sifting through other plans that made sense before the pandemic to discover the best possible ways to make exploring motivation an integral part of this website.

Sifting through things that suddenly don’t work anymore to try make necessary adjustments became somewhat of a theme this summer. A lot of my writing time was spent working on a stalled draft of what was intended as a sequel to The Birth of Super Crip. I still hope to continue the Super Crip story with a novel versus the planned series of young adult novellas.

My workout needed some reconfiguring as well. I’m proud to say that needing to change up your exercise routine is something that I discuss in my e-book. That need is real and I’m relying on plenty of the thoughts in Reach Past Your Limits—which includes some great input that I received from others—to keep myself motivated.

It feels as though the change in my energy level and abilities changed overnight, and the Y closing for months certainly didn’t help. But as friends have enjoyed telling me (for a bit longer than necessary), I am getting close to 50. I’ve been taking time to really evaluate what is happening and prioritizing aspects of my workout to focus on areas that are essential for me to continue to live as independently as possible. I have also made some basic changes in my daily life that I never thought I’d have to make. It’s frustrating as hell. But I can honestly say that finding ways to stay motivated to keep my body functioning as well as it can is absolutely necessary to the ongoing process.

My brother Jim (red hat, I'm in the
blue) came down to the shore in
August to help me get around a
little easier. Much appreciated
and good to spend time with him,
especially by the ocean!

Summer brought one very “normal” event—or, I should say, two—that was still rather unexpected. For the first time in several years, I went away. Twice. I think it was only the second time in my life that I had two vacations in one summer. The first trip to the shore was actually prompted by the shutdown. I needed a change of scenery. The second came about because of work being done at the house. I had to get out—literally—which was fine by me. Both trips were welcome getaways, and these days I’m always happy to sit on the beach on a hot summer day.

The August vacation included a rainy day trip to the casino. I was disappointed to find that the only virtual blackjack machine—my favorite game—looked and played like an ‘80s video game. In fact, if the IntelliVision blackjack game had involved real money, I’d say it was better. On the casino game, bets were limited to 1 or 2 bucks, with no double-down or splits. I bagged it a dollar up, lost $20 on video roulette, and called it a day.

I actually love to gamble, but I prefer to put my money on sports. I at least feel like there’s some strategy and know-how involved. In fact, of all the “ventures” I’ve tried since being laid-off in 2004 from the only full-time job I ever had—including writing, a sports blog, other blogs, affiliate sales, and more–it’s the only one that has shown some real earning potential. And it gets me charged up as much as anything, which doesn’t hurt. So, after years of being ultra-conservative with money and months of quarantine to wonder what the hell I’ve been so conservative for, I’m planning to up the ante and see if I can make gambling on sports more than a hobby.

What can I say . . . motivation comes in many forms.

I capped off summer by finally venturing to the barber for a professional buzz cut. I was a bit reluctant to go. The idea of keeping 6-feet away from each other in public has left me wondering how people will react to a guy with cerebral palsy who relies on a little help from strangers now and then. I was relieved and quite impressed to find the stylist (I don’t think they like being called “barbers” these days) very willing to help me exchange my easy-to-put-on face shield for a mask that I need help looping around my ears. And, as great a job as mom did with haircuts during quarantine and a little beyond, I think we were both grateful for the baby step back to normalcy.

Fall usually signals a fresh start to me. I like the cooler weather and, in a typical year, enjoy the return of football and, a little later, basketball to the sports calendar. No one knows what fall of 2020 will bring us. Quite honestly, I’m fearful of another shutdown. But hopefully we can all sift through whatever this year does to our best-laid plans to salvage the possibilities.