Good afternoon! It’s a rainy Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina today! Yay! Yep! I know I’ve been fussing a bit a about all the rain, but we just laid three pallets of sod in the backyard, so we’ll take all of the rain we can get! Several friends helped with the sod project, which was awesome! Laying sod is tough work, so I was grateful for the help!
I am probably a bit delinquent in posting something new and my only excuse is… we went Disney World the week before last and only got back in town last Wednesday. It takes a few days to catch-up after a trip like, so all I can really do is ask for your forgiveness! 🙂 I’m sure you’re with me on that one…
Anyway… Do you like the title of today’s post? “Can’t” vs “Won’t”! Hmmm… whatever can that mean? Especially on the heels of a trip to Disney? Well…. let me explain!
To start with, let me say… I am a HUGE fan of amusement parks! Disney is NO EXCEPTION! If Disney wasn’t so far (And so expensive), I’d go several times a year! HOWEVER… with MS comes a few hardships that pop-up way too often at amusement parks, at least for me. Examples of these are… Roller coasters and other fast moving rides can really set off the dizzies and balance issues. Standing in long lines during the heat of the day can also cause bad dizziness as well as fatigue. And finally… in general… fatigue is almost always a factor when I’m on my feet that much and walking and walking and walking. 🙂
Based on the factors I just noted, my approach to amusement parks these days is pretty simple! It’s all about the kids! So, if the kids want to do it, they do it. If I feel like I “Can” do it, I do! If I feel like I “Can’t” do it, I don’t! Pretty simple right? My wife goes on most of the rides with our daughter, so we have back-up in case one of our older boys doesn’t feel like doing one of the rides she likes. Everyone is able to have a great time! Right? Unfortunately, not always…
To be honest, it really does seem pretty simple. I sit out on rides that I worry are going to make me not feel good and ride the ones that seem like things will be OK. My wife, on the other hand, really wants me to participate in everything! It’s fair to say that she even wants to “push” things a bit to make sure I am not missing out on anything! Often, that’s a good way to live! Her attitude helps me get off the couch, stay active, not become a recluse… etc. etc. etc. However, at the amusement park… I really don’t WANT to be pushed. I like my comfort zone, probably a bit too much.
So, the first day we went to actual Disney World! The rides were all super kid friendly, so I did almost all of them (Except Space Mountain) and had a great time! Felt great! Our second park was Animal Kingdom. Again, I did most of the rides, with the exception of the Yeti roller coaster (Don’t think that’s the real name) and the Avatar virtual ride. My wife, daughter (8) and youngest son (18) all did the Yeti while I watched. Trust me! I was VERY content WATCHING! 🙂 But THEN… my family started giving me a hard time about missing out.
Really? Was I REALLY missing out? I told them I was worried about getting dizzy or having vertigo, but they guilt tripped me for what seemed like hours (It was probably 5 minutes)… and so I gave in. The line wasn’t very long and we were heading up the first hill in no time at all! One benefit of the ride was it was VERY smooth with few jerks. The bad things about the ride, at least for me, high speed turns and going backwards. The ride lasts for probably a minute, but for a while there I felt like I might lose my lunch. Not Good! 🙂 As the ride ended, I was trying to orient my head to where I actually was. I didn’t feel terrible, but definitely dizzy. It’s not a good feeling. My wife and son asked how I was doing, so I gave them one of “THOSE” looks. You know what I mean? I’m sure you do… 🙂 They both told me over and over things like… “See! It wasn’t that bad was it?” or “That was awesome! Don’t you think you can do it again?”. Good Grief! 🙁
Fast forward about 4 hours and we’re now in line for the Avatar virtual reality thing. I already know this is probably not a ride I’m going on as it requires 3-D glasses and tries very hard to integrate you into the ride. I told my wife I’d at least stay in line and see all the cool graphics, models and other things from the Avatar Movie. It was very cool. Part of me couldn’t help but read the signs saying people with motion issues and other medical conditions probably shouldn’t try the ride. Hmmm… I don’t think anyone else in my family saw those signs! Go Figure! Anyway, we get all the way to the ride and it’s a series of seats in front of a blue screen. It is SO COOL looking and I would have liked to try it, so I asked the worker how long the ride was… and it was.. like.. 12 minutes? So, to the dissapointment of my wife and son, I opted out. Isn’t discretion the better part of valor sometimes?
As I sat and waited for my family to finish, I spoke to one of the workers about the ride and what it was like. He mentioned that a lot of “normal people” got very motion sick on the ride, so I assumed my decision was a good one. Especially since I am not all that “normal”. 🙂 Once the ride was over my family was absolutely gushing about what a cool experience it was. My wife actually teared up because of MY decision to not participate and miss out on such a cool experience. Boy did I feel guilty. 🙁
I know my wife didn’t mean to make me feel guilty. She really thought I could have just said “Yes” to the ride and dealt with any consequences afterwards (ie Dizzy, vertigo, etc.). The problem was, I explained, that it was a matter of “Won’t” vs “Can’t”! Of course, I CAN do most things, but some things just aren’t smart for me to do and end up on the “Won’t” list. It’s possible people think I am taking the easy path, but, at least for me, that’s really not true!!! It is quite possible the Avatar ride would have caused me no issues! At the same time, as I’ve experienced in past amusement parks, it could have made me feel pretty bad… for 2-3 days. As we were in Florida for several days after Animal Kingdom, I really didn’t want to take the chance of having to be on my back to keep the dizzies at bay.
I don’t know… I hated to disappoint my family, but I know they would have been equally upset if I hadn’t felt good enough to hang out at the pool, go shopping or eat out the remainder of our trip. Sometimes it feels a bit like a lose/lose situation. Oh well.
OK! I hear you! I’m rambling and wallowing in a big huge vat of self pity! Forgive me? 🙂 I’ll try to keep the next post a bit lighter!
Talk to you soon!
Steve
