[nfb-talk] swimming (was: Bard(

Fri Jul 16 14:02:00 UTC 2010

I'm impressed with the number of swimmers on this list. Its a good sign, 
IMO. It says something about the NFB philosophy.

I may have given the impression that I disapprove of the NFB philosophy but 
nothing could be further from the truth. Its very close to my personal 
philosophy of life which is borrowed from Vince Lombardi.

A lot of people think Vince Lombardi was the mean old coach who would do 
anything to win. No, that was not what he was like at all. His players loved 
him and still gather to meet each year to honor him. What he believed was 
that life's greatest moments come when you meet a challenge and over come 
it. That's what life is about. That is what it is to be human.  You've got 
to have the will to win, to be the best you can be. Strive for perfection, 
knowing you'll never obtain it but on the way there, you'll find three 
things. First, you'll do more than you ever thought you could. Second, 
you'll find the struggle itself can be fun. And third, , when you do 
succeed, it will be the greatest feeling you've ever had. So when I went 
blind, I decided I was going to be the best damn blind guy I could be. I 
learned braille, tried to learn to play the violin, got a guide dog, and got 
back into running and swimming.

The beauty of Lombardi's philosophy is that whenever you run into adversity, 
you don't say, "Oh, woe is me. Life is so hard."  Instead the response is , 
"Well, what are you going to do about it?" You don't seek out adversity but 
when it comes, embrace it. Take it on.

Not to create controversy again but like the NFB philosophy, the problem 
with Vince Lombardi's philosophy is that it is easily morphed into a 
mentality of showing contempt for losers. You can't live Lombardi's 
philosophy and be satisfied -- well ever really since perfection is 
impossible to obtain. You can always get better. But not everybody has the 
same strengths and not everyone can win.  And no one has any right to tell 
anyone else how to live their lives.

anyway, I think you can see the simularity between Lombardi's philosophy of 
life and the NFB philosophy. I would say, though, that Lombardi's philosophy 
is a step beyond that of the NFB in that it gives you a sort of method for 
carrying it out. The idea of never settling for anything short of success is 
implied in the NFB philosophy but not spelled out. I think Lombardi's take 
on the NFB philosophy would have been that the most important thing in life 
for a blind person is striving to reduce blindness to a mere nuisance.  You 
may never get there but the most important thing is to never be satisfied 
until it is.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Johnson" <stevencjohnson at centurytel.net>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2010 7:10 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] swimming (was: Bard(

> Hi John,
>
> I think it is just cool that you are swimming.  I think the best I would 
> at
> my skill level is circles!  Good for you in wanting to be a tri-athelete!
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of John G. Heim
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2010 11:25 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] swimming (was: Bard(
>
> If you swim laps and if you have a way to stay on your side of the lane, 
> I'd
> like to hear about it.  I believe most lap pools have the swimmers keep
> right like on a road. You swim up the right side of the lane and on the 
> way
> back you come down the other side. The best I've been able to do is to 
> swim
> with my right arm flailing out so that i can touch the lane divider on 
> every
> stroke.  That doesn't really work very well.
>
> It isn't really very helpful to tell me my skills need to improve. After
> all, I already asked for tips on how to improve.
>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2010 9:14 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] swimming (was: Bard(
>
>
>>A lane for yourself alone?  Why?  Is it your swimming skills that
>>vastly need improvement; or, perhaps your blindness skills?
>> Sincerely,
>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
>>
>> E-Mail:
>> rforetjr at comcast dot net
>> Skype Name:
>> barefootedray
>>
>> On Jul 15, 2010, at 9:04 AM, John G. Heim wrote:
>>
>>> So you're a swimmer, huh?  Do you ever have to share a lane? If so,
>>> how do you do it? I have never managed to do that successfully. Here
>>> at the pool at the University of Wisconsin, I call ahead and they set
>>> a lane aside for me so I can have it to myself. Its only a minor
>>> sacrifice because there are usually several lanes with only one
>>> person in them. So when they reserve a lane for me, it only means one
>>> other person has to share a lane.
>>>
>>> Have you ever done any open water swimming? I would like to enter a
>>> triathlon but I don't like swimming tethered to someone else. I just
>>> can't get comfortable doing that. It effects my breathing and I just
>>> can't swim normally.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wm. Ritchhart"
>>> <william.ritchhart at sbcglobal.net>
>>> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 5:04 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Bard
>>>
>>>
>>>> I really like the new digital talking book player.  I do wish it was
>>>> still smaller and lighter.  With all my swimming gear, lunch,
>>>> back-up cane and everything else I have in my gym bag; it is still
>>>> too heavy.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>>> [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of Steve Johnson
>>>> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 8:22 PM
>>>> To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
>>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Bard
>>>>
>>>> John, I have not tried one myself yet, so this is good to know.
>>>> Thanks, Steve
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>>> [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of John G. Heim
>>>> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 3:26 PM
>>>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>>>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Bard
>>>>
>>>> Man, I just got one of those new digital book players from the
>>>> National Library Service.  You might wonder why a computer nerd like
>>>> myself took so long to ask for one of those things. Well, I guess
>>>> mostly the reason is that I have 2 tape players that I bought myself
>>>> plus the one from NLS. So now I have to use the player from the NLS
>>>> all of the time.
>>>>
>>>> But holy cow, is this thing nice. I downloaded a book and put it on
>>>> a USB thumb drive and was listening to a book amybe 3 minutes after
>>>> getting started. And navigation within the book is very nice.
>>>>
>>>> Your tax dollars at work.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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