[Ohio-talk] Dreaming In Tandem - My Cycling Blog

Tue Jun 16 03:24:57 UTC 2009

GO GET THEM THAT IS FABULOUS, I wish I could ride with you.  Susan Day Miami
Valley Chapter

-----Original Message-----
From: ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Everett Gavel
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 10:38 AM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Subject: [Ohio-talk] Dreaming In Tandem - My Cycling Blog

Hello,

I hope you don't mind my sharing this with you.  I thought you might enjoy
it.  There's no going back now.  I've gone public with this dream.  Please
keep me in your prayers.  ;-)

Strive On!
Everett
www.everettgavel.com

"Dreaming In Tandem" - My Cycling Blog
http://www.dreamingintandem.blogspot.com/

Dream: Winning the Tandem Cycling Competition In the Paralympics
Goal: Competing In the 2016 Paralympics
Steps: Prayer, Commitment, Prayer, Consistency, and, Oh Yeah--Did I Mention
Prayer?

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Sharing the Dream

I was recently re-inspired toward my original 2002 dream of being in the
Paralympics--in the Tandem Cycling category. I'm an out-of-shape, nearly
40-year-old man who's managed my diabetes rather poorly for most of 29
years--and am now blind as a result.

Only God knows whether I'll achieve this dream or not--or even get close.
But I'm not pushing it aside this time. I have come to understand that with
God, anything is possible.

As I write this, it's June 2009. My goal is to be a competitor in the 2016
Paralympics. I'll be 46 at that time.

Maybe I can set a record for being the oldest competing athlete ever? Don't
know what the actual record for that is, yet. But 46 isn't the norm, I'm
pretty sure of that. With the poor shape I'm in right now, I'll be pedaling
uphill all the way.

If I even get close, all glory must surely go to God, because I have never
taken the best care of my diabetes. In my teen years I almost completely
ignored it, rarely watching my blood sugar levels.

To my parents' credit, they tried, constantly, to get me to take better care
of it. Despite our constant arguing over it, and their urging towards it,
pleading for it, I still ignored it and was all too typically stubborn and
ignorant.

Stubbornness is a trait I've not completely overcome in my 39 years of
dealing with it. Go figure.

Now, years later, I'm feeling a lot older--most days--than I am. I figure
it's the result of poor management of my diabetes.

I know for a fact that poor management of my diabetes is what caused my
blindness. I lost my sight when I was 23, though it started in 7th Grade,
with getting thicker and thicker glasses every year, due to my deteriorating
eyes--due to my constant high blood sugar levels.

But at age 21 or thereabouts, I began needing laser surgery to stop the
bleeding in my eyes, from Diabetic Retinopathy.

By age 23 I'd had hundreds of laser zaps and numerous doctor's visits to try
to stop the blood flow. It wasn't anything more than sticking your thumb
into the crack in a levee. I realize that now when looking back. Even for a
blind guy, hindsight is 20/20, y'know? ;-)

Anyway, I've been dealing with the accountability of my poor management now
for 16 years. Blindness is no big deal, really. It's just a part of life.
It's as scary as anything, when it first happens. At least if you're not
really expecting it. But thankfully I met some good people--and was helped
to understand the simple truths of blindness.

The first and most important lesson I learned being that blindness is only a
showstopper if you let it be. Blindness is not what stops someone from
living a productive and worthwhile life. It's our attitude that stops us.

If you want something, if I want something--bad enough--we'll find a way to
get it, or to do it. Blindness will not stop us--nor will most anything
else.

Now that some things have cleared up in my life, a path has opened, and I
find I'm led to achieve this dream again.

I've now possibly 'wasted' 7 years of my life in regards to this particular
dream. But that's okay. Gideon had plenty of fighting men at his side, yet
God shrunk his army down to only 300 men--so that God could be glorified.
There was no boasting of men and no mistake as to who was responsible for
Gideon's victory.

I look at this dream and it scares the hell out of me in some ways. I know I
can't achieve this on my own, and am tempted to say, "Why bother?" But I
believe it to be a dream that God gave me; a bit of inspiration which made
me sit bolt upright in bed one night--even before I was fully awake.

So I will do my best to follow-through on it, for His glory. My God is a God
that has raised the dead. He's the Creator of Life. He can do whatever He
chooses to do. I pray this dream be His will, and not merely mine.

I know that if it comes to fruition, it could only be, will only be, my Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ carrying me along. Thank You, Jesus.

Want to come along for the ride? Subscribe to get updates as I post 'em.

And away we go... exit, stage right!

Posted by Everett Gavel at 8:20 PM
0 comments

Labels: Blindness, Cycling, Diabetes, Paralympics, Tandems, Vision Loss

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