If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The sharpest tragedy in the Pistorius scandal is the death of a young, intelligent woman - Reeva Steenkamp. Yet, the whole episode also threatens to strike a dagger into last year's Olympic legacy. For all that Pistorius did to prove the irrelevance of disability; he is now the blade runner that malfunctioned.
This morning I struggled to get out of bed to come to work, but from now on I will not be so complacent about life after speaking to David Andrew-Smit...
They say time flies, but it is almost unthinkable that it was six months ago that the Olympic Games opened so spectacularly. The memories will live on for years to come, a summer which saw the best of what the UK had to offer, magnificent sport, an organisational triumph and of course an abiding memory of the team in purple and red: the Games Makers.
Benjamin Franklin memorably stated "Gentlemen, we must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately". The message that no group of people can succeed and prosper who are divided against themselves, applies equally to society at large.
As a born and bred Londoner, I now wish I'd had an opportunity to play my part - banging a drum along with Danny Boyle would have been good fun. I admit I blew it.
An hour or so after the usual blood test, the oncologist comes into my room and draws the curtain around me for privacy. Uh oh, bad news.
With the Paralympics not all that far in the rear view mirror, Duncan Smith's outlook sounds almost consistent with the theme tune of that superb tournament: that people with disabilities are Harder Than You Think, and therefore don't need so many of your tax-funded handouts. It's a seductively simple premise, but it looks to be at variance with the facts.
Sometimes one encounters a beautiful inspiration that transcends fashion and art. One such is inspiration is Katy Sullivan who has stolen my heart.... I met in Katy in Los Angeles several months ago at a fundraiser for the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Los Angeles, CA.
There's a bigger legacy on the horizon, one which was not a part of the initial plans but has long been a frustrated dream that is now on the brink of being realised: tilting London's centre of gravity a few degrees to the east...
In the weeks leading up to the Paralympics the air was filled with a familiar, silent contradiction. The predominant line focused on how inspiring it was going to be, seeing athletes perform and overcome, despite their disabilities. At the same time, a ComRes poll found that sixty-six percent agreed that "people with disabilities are often regarded as second-rate citizens".
The ability to turn threat to opportunity has long been known to be a high performer mind-set in any field but perhaps it is nowhere more obvious than in the back stories of the Paralympians.
I am left reflecting on how important it is to never lose belief that you can do it and keep fighting to the end as Andy Murray demonstrated in the USA.
In my work as a Cognitive Hypnotherapist I see so many people in states of acute anxiety, depression and stress. One of the things that really makes a difference (and research widely supports this) is getting the unconscious mind to focus on the positives around us.
A scheme to get claimants off long term disability back to work is turning into something of a PR nightmare for the government. The sight of disabled protesters and their growing number of supporters taking to the streets, after a widely acclaimed Paralympics, is one it might wish to avoid.
As well as enjoying the games, it's vital we consider the legacy we want them to leave. To me, the ambition should be to make Britain the best place in the world to live if you have a disability, regardless of whether that disability as a result of a mental or a physical condition.
The moment of the Paralympics that I will always remember most vividly was when I got the chance to see it live. I was at the Excel Centre watching the Wheelchair Fencing. The atmosphere was amazing and the crowd really got behind the athletes and supported their countries. It showed that not just able-bodied people can take part in sports - that was really special.
