What If: I was a paraplegic like Chuck Close

My whole life has been dictated by the movement of my legs. Wherever I go, I use my legs. I run, bike, and at times long board to wherever the destination has me going. I can not imagine how hard the life of paraplegia really is. I wonder what type of person I'd turn out to be. Much of my identity is centered around my ability to play soccer. Sports, but primarily soccer has dominated my life since I was seven years old. Through soccer I have learned how to coup with adversity, deal with hardship, and I have built a strong work ethic. I truly think if I didn't have any use of my legs, I would sadly be much more of an intellectual thinker. I'm not saying sadly because I don't want the image of a intellectual, I'm upset I have not been able to be as well read as I could have been throughout my life. It's not like I have done nothing. I've books on the revolutionaries Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, also while reading classic novels such as The Old Man and the Sea. But at some point soccer has just been so time consuming that I have not been able to become the man that my father had dreamt of me growing up to be. I still believe I can become an intellectual, but as long as I'm playing soccer (which ultimately means I have the use of my legs) that will have to be delayed.