Chair the Hope

The Story

In 2001, Nathan Ogden raced down an Oregon ski slope, launching himself off a jump over 30 feet into the air. While he had done this many times, something was different on this day. He caught more air than he intended to, which rotated his body backward, slamming him onto the slope.

He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t move. He soon learned that his neck had shattered.

Over the next few months, this married father of two threw his heart and soul into rehab and remained confident that he would walk again, despite what the doctors said. Gradually, as he gained sensation to his legs and a little independence, his doctors called his progress “miraculous.”

But he wanted his health to progress faster.

He worked tirelessly to regain use of his upper body, and while he could hardly move his legs, he was convinced that one day he would walk again. 

He eventually regained 50% of his body movement, but more trouble was yet to come. In 2003, just 13 months after his skiing accident, Ogden caught pneumonia and fell unconscious in his sleep.

When his wife couldn’t wake him, he was rushed to the ER, where technicians accidentally dropped him to the floor while x-raying his lungs.

For the second time, Ogden had broken his neck. But this time, the break was higher up, which permanently paralyzed him.

All of his hard work and hundreds of hours of rehab crashed to the floor.

Years laters, he now has very little control of his upper body and no sensation from his chest down.

But when asked what went through his mind when he woke up and learned his neck was broken again, he said, “The first words I said to my wife when she told me were, ‘Bring it on.’ I knew that if I had done it once, I could do it again.”

Ogden tried to be positive throughout the coming years, but says that was easier said than done. He had fought so hard to progress after his first accident, only to have it ripped out from under him.

If you want to be successful, practice and work hard.

Ogden felt trapped, noting, “I lost my job, friends, self-esteem and almost my marriage. Being physically paralyzed is extremely difficult, but not moving mentally is painfully worse.”

But with the positive attitude that he maintained, Ogden learned to feel more compassion and empathy towards others than he’d ever experienced.

He believes he went through his challenges in order to magnify the positive results.

He continues to fight a daily battle against adversity and since his second paralysis, he has been skydiving, gone river rafting, hunting, snow skiing, water skiing and even completed a half-triathlon. He is even venturing into consulting and public speaking and writing a book to inspire as many as possible to believe in hope and progress.

Ogden notes that while he may not be able to move his legs or walk, he can stand up and face his fears, and seeks to convince other people that they can too.

The Moral

With that kind of persistent attitude, Ogden has never given up and is back on top of the mountain. While he may never walk again, the perseverance of his spirit is allowing him to live a fulfilling life, despite the challenges he faces.

BY SOFO ARCHON

Wanduta (Red Arrow), from the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, in the Oak Lake area, Manitoba, ca. 1913

The wisdom of the native American Indians is timeless and powerful enough to transform human consciousness, so that we (individually and collectively) can lead a peaceful, close-to-nature, compassionate life. 

Below are 28 hand-picked Native American Indian quotes on life and death. May they open your mind and heart wide.

1. “Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark.” – Cheyenne

2. “Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.” – Hopi

3. “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” – Tribe Unknown 

4. “It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.” – Apache

5. “They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.” – Tuscarora

6. “All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.” – Arapaho

7. “A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.” – Iowa

8. “When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.” – Arapaho

9. “If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come.” – Arapaho

10. “Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves.” – Assiniboine

11.  “You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.” – Navajo

12. “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” – Cherokee

13. “Those who have one foot in the canoe, and one foot in the boat, are going to fall into the river.” – Tuscarora

14. “The weakness of the enemy makes our strength.” – Cherokee

15. “When the white man discovered this country, Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, women did all the work. White man thought he could improve on a system like this.” – Cherokee

16. “When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.” – Lakota

17. “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” – Dakota

18. “Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.” – Cheyenne

19. “There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnake’s tail.” – Navajo

20. “Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.” – Lakota

21. “Our first teacher is our own heart.” – Cheyenne

22. “Everyone who is successful must have dreamed of something.” – Maricopa

23. “All who have died are equal.” – Comanche

24. “What the people believe is true.” – Anishinabe

25. “What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” – Blackfoot