Sean Baumstark lives with Friedreich’s ataxia and embodies the mantra “get stuff done.” Sean ran his first 10k three weeks after being diagnosed in 2007. He believes excuses hold us back from being our best. He is the founder of de:terminence, a nonprofit helping disabled individuals experience the beauty and power of physical achievement. He is a subject in the documentary film, “The Ataxian,” which chronicles a four-man team competing in Race Across America. He co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Two Disabled Dudes,” which encourages listeners to “live beyond circumstances.” He lives and works in Sacramento, California.
I’m just a few weeks from crossing the five-year mark since writing my first column for Friedreich’s Ataxia News. With that milestone approaching, I went back and read some of my old columns. Many made me chuckle, bringing fond memories to the front of my mind, while…
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I was sitting on a plane yesterday thinking about some of my deadlines when I recognized that I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. While I wasn’t frustrated and my level of functioning wasn’t affected, I noticed that I was tired and feeling as if time was getting away…
Others. Community. Support. Help. Cheerleaders. These are the words that have been flooding my thoughts over the last couple of weeks. If you consider my writings, the podcast that I co-host, or the documentary film in…
I love productivity. I have a strong disdain for being passive, or slow to move. If something needs to be done, I like to get after it quickly. There is certainly nothing wrong with moments of rest and relaxing activities. I enjoy a good movie…
I met up with my best friend for lunch last week, and he noticed I was in a bit of a funk. I could feel I was a little off myself, but I couldn’t put my finger on the root of my disconnect. As my friend and I…
I want to give credit to this column, and the writing habit I have developed because of it, for some of the recent improvements in my personal performance. Writing doesn’t often come naturally to me, so I was hesitant at first about committing to a…
Recently, a topic of conversation on the podcast I co-host, “Two Disabled Dudes,” revolved around this column and the idea of excuses versus reasons. My co-host, Kyle Bryant, and I discussed the basic philosophy and tried to lay out an elementary explanation of the…
Is there ever a “right” time? I’d argue that this idea is mentally comforting, but the “right time” doesn’t exist. You can wait all you want, but that’s where regret begins to take root in your life and your lack of action begins to…
I’m convinced that we all think we’re unique in the following regard: Something about who we are, or our circumstances, excuses us from being better or from being the best version of ourselves possible. We’re all pretty darn good at coming up with excuses as to why…
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