When it comes to accomplishing our goals or anything worthwhile, “IT’S ALL ABOUT GAINING FORWARD MOMENTUM.”   Sometimes that’s not easy. When I met Shellita Boxie in January 2003, I had just completed over two years of physical therapy after breaking my back.  I was learning to walk all over again.  I had “graduated” from using a brace on the right leg with a walker and/or crutches.  I shared my fitness and life goals with her.   I told her my goals included walking on my own, reducing pain, improving my level of fitness and completing one distance walk/run.   Many people told me my goals and dreams were set much too high.  Some used the word impossible but not Shellita.  She was anxious to help.  The fact my situation was made more complicated by cerebral palsy did not deter her. 

I was born with cerebral palsy at a time when most people believed this disability made the opportunity to experience a rewarding life impossible or very limited at best.  Parents were encouraged to place children in an institution, or worse.  Fortunately, my parents, Minor and Esther Oakley, made a different choice.  Their choice was to see me as Gary Oakley, a son with unlimited potential rather than Gary Oakley, disabled son, for whom there was no hope.  The choice they made was not without risk or criticism.  I would fall many times.  I would be taught to get back up when I fell down.  My parents told me their lives were filled with, “Dirty looks” as they slowly kept walking while waiting for me to get up.  They did have a parent’s sense of knowing when I was hurt and needed help.  “It just sounded different.”  They told me. 

My parents, family and friends have done all they could to be sure I would function independently, experience all I could and live a productive life.  My parents used all the medical options available to make walking easier including surgery, braces and therapy.  Their plan left no doubt I would graduate from high school, college and find a job.  My father often said, “We will not be around forever and you’ll never make it digging a ditch.”

I was never discouraged from becoming involved in anything I wanted to do.  I loved to play football, basketball and baseball.  My best friend, from childhood, (Who now lives in Orlando) has told me, “Your cerebral palsy was never a problem because you always found a way to play and help us win.”

I became a person who had a very active life.  I worked fulltime and more.  I became a long distance runner.  I ran hundreds of races including two marathons.  (26.2 miles.)  My body was good to me and served me well in spite of many falls, surgeries, being struck by a car while marathon training and an auto accident that left me hanging upside down  while waiting for emergency assistance.  I lived life without using mobility aides even though it was sometimes difficult.

I lost my balance, fell and broke my back on September 12, 1998.  This was literally the straw that broke the camel’s back.  My body had had enough.  Intense pain caused me to fall frequently.  I needed surgery to relieve spinal stenosis.  Doctors tried many kinds of treatment, including drug interventions, for more than three years to reduce and manage the pain.  Nothing worked. I was taken to the emergency room at least twice to treat drug reactions.    Walking became so difficult I had to use a walker.  I had to give up fulltime work.  I sold my home to pay medical expenses.

Where are we now?  The brace is in storage, crutches are in my golf bag and I am exercising with renewed vigor, and I've completed Disney’s ½ Marathon. With over 900 miles under my belt in the last year and an incredible training team, another goal shall be accomplished.

I often tell people physical therapist Terry Allen saved my life.  Shellita’s encouragement and support restored my spirit.  She challenges me to be the best I can be EVERY DAY!!  She is my trainer, friend, and guardian angel.   She has added intense free weight training along with ball exercises to improve my use of individual muscle groups and overall strength, balance, and flexibility.     

As a principle partner in SMB Personal Fitness, Inc, I assist Shellita in teaching bootcamp fitness, on-line coaching and other fitness services.  We make ourselves available to speak at seminars, conventions and banquets.  You really can be fit and enjoy your life no matter what your circumstances.  Let us show you how.

I may never again live my life without some form of pain but that’s okay.  God has used difficult circumstances to make me healthier and my life better than ever in spite of pain.  The same can happen to you.  With the help of God and a supporting cast, IT’S ALL ABOUT GAINING FORWARD MOMENTUM!!  As I have been challenged, I challenge you to give yourself that opportunity.