Greetings!

The Olympic Ideal. What does it really mean? Especially what does it mean for someone with a brachial plexus injury? We could never hope to achieve what those athletes have achieved with the permanent injuries we have sustained.

I have a Classics undergraduate degree and my focus was Greek civilization and language. I have been to Athens, Olympia and even Marathon. I have walked across that sacred ground where those athletes first competed, soaking in the heady feeling that imbues all who go there.

I did not and I do not feel inadequate. Why not?

Because the Olympics are not about perfection. Rather, they are about achieving one's personal best. It is about finding harmony and balance in one's life. For me, that means living with a brachial plexus injury and not letting it hinder me from success. That means my success is measured not in winning gold medals, but in capitalizing on my strengths and not focusing on my weaknesses.

For me, the games were epitomized when gymnast Paul Hamm fell during one of his routines for the all-around. He picked himself up and went on to complete two impressive routines and he still won the gold medal. He did not let adversity stand in his way. He did not give up on himself. He picked himself up and he went on to do his personal best. And his personal best was good enough to win him gold. Wow, what a story to share with your children and to hold up for yourself as an Olympic ideal. That is the Olympics at their best.

UBPN is also progressing. We acknowledge that we will continue to evolve as a young organization, and we realize that with each and every year, we get closer to accomplishing our long term goals. We learn daily, it seems, about the difficulties of maintaining a message board on the Internet. Other health organizations, like ours, have found such boards too difficult and too controversial to manage and quickly close them. We will continue striving to keep the message boards a place of conversation and support and, in order to do that; it may mean that we will need to be more stringent in enforcing our policy.

The UBPN Board of Directors met in early August in Kent, Ohio, where we held our annual meeting, electing new officers and a new Board of Directors. We held a strategic planning session and will be sharing with you over the course of the next year what we plan to achieve in the future.

We are thankful for outgoing Board members who have given so much of their time to volunteer with UBPN on the Board. Those leaving the Board are Jennifer Engelhardt, Krista Heikkinen, Tami Schenck, and Kim West. Our new officers are: Nancy Birk, President, Cathy Kanter, Immediate Past President, Richard Looby, Vice President, Kathleen Mallozzi, Secretary and Sabrina Randolph, Treasurer. Board members are: Julia Aten, Courtney Edlinger, Peggy Ferguson, Karen McClune, Lisa Muscarella, John Petit, Claudia Strobing, and Judy Thornberry.

Thanks to all of them for giving us their own personal best.

Best wishes,

Nancy Birk, President
UBPN, Inc.