The Inevitable Dream

“At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.” – Christopher Reeve

This is an ironic quote for the man of steel, ultimately imprisoned in his own body. Yet after Reeve became a quadriplegic when thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in Virginia in 1995, his dream actually began. He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal-cord injuries and for human embryonic stem cell research, founding the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founding the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.

The Reeve Foundation, originally named American Paralysis Foundation, began in 1982 at a time when spinal cord research was considered the graveyard of neurobiology. It was started as a grassroots response to a local accident and has now grown into a national movement. Christopher Reeve’s injury in 1995 and passionate involvement in this field changed helped make this one of the most promising fields in research. As of early 2006, the Foundation has awarded more than $64 million (USD) in research grants and more than $8 million in quality-of-life grants. In 2002, Christopher Reeve said, “Nothing of any consequence happens unless people get behind an idea. It begins with an individual and they share the idea with more individuals…and eventually it becomes a movement.”

In living life in crescendo, Christopher Reeve turned lemons into lemonade, and made his biggest difference after he had been reduced to little more than thought leadership. Abraham Lincoln once said, “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”  Passion versus merely interest makes all the difference.  So what’s your passion?

Take the TEST–Are you Living your Life in Crescendo?

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