Attacking Attaxia

I once heard someone ask the question – “How do you respond to your reality?”
It’s a question the young man you’re about to meet is answering in a most beautiful and inspiring way.

Kyle Bryant has Friedreich’s Ataxia, a fatal disease that breaks down the nervous system, heart and brain. I was blown away when I met Kyle. His energy is infectious and his attitude is all about gratitude. In the midst of a fatal illness, Kyle has found a reason for living big.

Kyle’s body is deteriorating every day, but his spirit it getting stronger and stronger. How? It’s because of his response to his own reality. Instead of letting this disease attack his life’s purpose … Kyle has made his purpose in life attacking this disease.

This is where the Ride Ataxia event rolls in. On March 16, 2009, Kyle and hundreds of his cycling teammates will take a four day adventure from Portland to Seattle to raise money to help search for a cure. This is the third year Kyle has embarked on such a remarkable journey, and to date, Kyle has raised more than $350,000. Raising funds to fight this disease has become Kyle’s purpose in life. It’s what drives him to live in the solution, not the problem. With a devastating diagnosis like Ataxia, it would be easy to live in “dis-ease.” Not Kyle, he’s rolling on! Mile by mile, Kyle is living to put the breaks on a deadly disease.

So in the spirit of Kyle – how do you respond to your reality? There are a zillion circumstances for our own realities. Yours may be the result of disease or life choices. But your response is more important than your reality. It’s your response that can change how you see your reality – and set you free.

For more on Kyle’s amazing story and the Ride Ataxia III, log on to rideataxia.org.