Walking Away From the Chair

​It's hard to give up a chair. Our offices, conference rooms, living rooms and movie theaters are full of comfortable chairs -- all working against our best intentions to sit less and move more. But it's

 even harder when the chair you want to give up is your wheelchair. Levi Moore has severe gout in his feet and legs that makes walking extremely painful. The pain only intensified over the years and in 2013, out of necessity, Levi began using a wheelchair.

​Actions rarely come without consequences. Levi missed playing with his daughter, walking with his wife, and the freedom to explore wherever he wanted. He missed his independence and understandably, his wheelchaired life took a toll on him mentally and emotionally. For 12 months he never left his apartment. He was 35 years old at the time.
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In 2014, Levi decided that he had had enough. He decided to give up his wheelchair and relearn how to walk. The personal costs in foregone opportunities and lost independence had become too great. 

When a baby learns to walk, their first steps are tentative and uneven. It's hard work learning to walk and as I watched the video of Levi taking his first steps away from his ​​​

wheelchair, it's clear that relearning to walk after sitting for many years is just as difficult. Levi struggled and labored to walk the 20 feet across his living room, but he never quit. "As much as I like my chair" he said, "I'm tired of being in it." ​​​​
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Those first 20 feet became a few more and then a quarter mile. The wheelchair got replaced with a walker, which was then swapped with a cane. A quarter mile became a full mile and then more miles. Slowly and with unshakable determination, Levi resumed his life. His painful gout still flares up when he walks sometimes, but he can generally work through it with over-the-counter pain meds as needed.

​On April 10, 2016, Levi walked a 5K, a remarkable accomplishment for someone reliant on a wheelchair just 6 months ago. He has plans to do a 10K and then a half marathon later this year. Can a full marathon be far behind? ​

Levi's inspiring story is a powerful testament to the power we humans have to change our lives when we decide that changes are needed.
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 Yes, the goal needs to be reasonable and attainable (many people in wheelchairs simply cannot walk again), but persistence and determination can often overcome even the greatest of obstacles. ​​

​But I've relearned a second, subtler lesson from Levi Moore. I've been reminded that the easier and "better" option often comes with strings attached. We pay a very high price for all the sitting that we do. Levi's life in a wheelchair just amplified and expedited these costs and made them more readily apparent. Few of us avoid these costs entirely. We may not think about our increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer when we are plunked in a chair, but the risks are there. We may not link our achy joints, fatigue, stress, and bouts of depression to being sedentary, but scientists tells us they are often correlated. When we repeatedly give in to the chairs that surround us and spend most of our days sitting, we lose our evolutionary drive to walk. We lose the ability to walk easily, freely, and without pain. We risk our vitality and our ability to live independently. We pay a very high price indeed.

We can't fulfil our potential and live a full, vibrant life if we stick ourselves in a chair and stay there. We are meant to move. Thanks for the reminder, Levi.  Walk on.

Follow Levi on his blog or YouTube channel.

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