I’m often asked how I am doing. I usually don’t answer as the answer is complex.

The simple one line response is: I’m alive and life is indeed beautiful.

The truth is, as always, more complicated. Six months ago I could walk around our block with just a cane, I could.../1

...get on the peloton on my own, get out of bed, get dressed, shower and shave on my own. And my voice was strong enough for 9 hours of conference calls a day. Today, my wife and others help me with each of these things. Today, the voice is at times so weak my wife has to.../2

...interpret for me on calls. Today I zoom around in a wheelchair and walk slowly, haltingly up and down stairs.

At the same time, my mind has never been sharper, the amount I get done in a day has never been greater, and my capacity to be present in a moment never higher. /3

I have learned to treasure small acts of kindness, deepened my relationships with friends and family, thrown myself into a cause far greater than me, been able to watch my beautiful daughters grow. And I have more hope today that I will beat ALS even as it ravages my body. /4

So how am I? I am alive and life is indeed beautiful. Today and every day. #grateful