I am writing this on July 1st because I have no idea where I will be when this blog post goes up. I could be holding my newborn son, etc. I wanted to write this because I’m keeping my commitment to blog every other week.

Besides expecting my baby boy, I have been on a creative tear. I wrote a blog post at the end of May about creating fans. At the time, I was putting the final touches on my autobiography.  I had also been working on a book called Big Dreams Take Small Sacrifices. One day while working on it, I had an epiphany. If I want to really push the speaking and the writing, I need to create fans before I publish my autobiography, A Search for an Ordinary Life.

On the heels of a Dallas trip, I called my manager and told her that I was now thinking of publishing Big Dreams first. I ruminated over the idea for the weekend until I got back into the office on Tuesday. I was even asked at the conference what my new book was about, and without thinking, I said big dreams. I had been writing that book on and off for a little over three years and when I started working on it, it took off. It took on a life of its own, and it actually changed me.

One of the last concepts I wrote about was “a sacrifice is a payment for dreams.” Before I wrote the words, I never understood that. Most of my adult life, anytime I accomplished something, I would think about how much easier it would be if I wasn’t disabled, and have my own little pity party. After writing the words, I realized that I am where I am because of the sacrifices I made as a disabled man, and there is now way I could write that book or have the kind of relationships and life that I have now.

Does this mean that I like being disabled? Hold on. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves! IT SUCKS.

Does it mean I will never have dreams of not being disabled? Not really. It only means that my life is a little bit easier, and I accept my situation a little more and that goes a long way with me.

I’m proud of the sacrifices that I have made as a disabled man. (By the way, what idiot would even fathom becoming a speaker with a speech impediment? I love it!)