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Speaking One-Page
Motivational Speaking
Craig Kennedy is a Motivational Speaker, Accessibility Consultant, Published Adaptive Travel Writer, and ADA Advocate. He has been in a wheelchair for almost ten years from a skiing accident and spends much of his time speaking and lobbying for increased accessibility and travel opportunities for people with disabilities. He has spoken at high schools, colleges, special events and conferences on topics such as Keeping a Positive Attitude/Life After Injury and The Benefits of Adaptive Sports and Travel. An avid outdoorsman, Craig skis 80 days per year and loves hand cycling, camping, hiking, and sea kayaking. When he is not running his consulting business, he and his partner Andrea spend their time traveling and doing research for their next adventure travel guides for people with disabilities (Access Anything, LLC).
Topics
- Keeping a Positive Attitude/Life After Injury
- The Benefits of Adaptive Sports and Travel
Keeping a Positive Attitude
Life deals us many hands and throws up a lot of roadblocks when we least expect it. It's so easy to misinterpret these challenges and opportunities that life awards us as bad luck. By always keeping a positive outlook on life, you can take the good with the bad and accept life as the blessing that it is. Remember, people with disabilities are "people" first. You can Go Anywhere, Do Anything! TM that you set your mind to! I have always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. While it took me several years to figure out why I was in a wheelchair, I know now that I would not have found the love of my life, would not own two businesses, would not be a published author, and would not appreciate life as much as I do now.
When I was in the hospital recovering from a skiing accident that broke eight of my vertebra and left me paralyzed from the waist down, the first thing I remember asking the doctor was "how long before I know if I will get any feeling or movement back in my legs?" He calmly told me that he couldn't give me a definite answer, but that if I didn't get anything back in two weeks that I was probably going to be in a wheelchair for a long time. So from that day on I worked hard in rehab, ate well, and counted down every day to the end of those two weeks. When I woke up on the fifteenth day I was faced with one of the toughest decisions of my life: be miserable or be happy. While I lay in bed pondering this decision, I thought back to all of the good things and great people in my life and I realized that no matter what the circumstances, life was worth living. I made a conscious decision that day to be happier person than I was before my accident and to live a full and meaningful life. I have never regretted it!
The Benefits of Adaptive Sports & Travel
Nothing has helped me get excited about life again more than my love for traveling and for the outdoors. I moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado more than ten years ago to ski; I broke my back skiing, and skiing is still why I live here. I couldn't wait to get back on the mountain after my accident and didn't even wait a whole season. I skied six times the season after my injury and over the past ten years have skied more than 700 times in Steamboat alone! When I'm not having fun in Steamboat I like to travel with my wife, Andrea. We have been to Chile, Mexico, England, Scotland, and all over the United States and enjoy exploring the world of accessible travel and the challenge of overcoming everyday barriers.
Life challenges us every day and it's up to us to be up to any challenge that arises. If you can learn to accept your injury as a challenge instead of misfortune, you can learn how to get back into life and enjoy the opportunities that are out there by traveling and participating in adaptive sports. I hardly remember what it was like to be a new injury. I have been so many places and learned so many new sports and activities, that I don't know what it's like to think about not being able to do something. By focusing on you ability instead of your disability, I guarantee that you can and will feel the same rejuvenating sense of freedom that I do every day! Start living by the words that I do: "Go Anywhere, Do Anything!"TM Start today! |
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