Part 3: This Is Where WOWCP Came From

Becoming the Living Example Series

Our Beautiful Challenges
By Marie W.O.W.C.P.

There was a time in my life when I didn’t understand what I was living.

I was just trying to get through the day.

Trying to keep up.
Trying to fit in.
Trying to prove—to myself and to others—that I could do more than what people saw.

At the time, I didn’t have a name for it.

I didn’t have a clear understanding of what I was doing.

I just knew one thing:

I couldn’t give up.

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Looking back now, I can see it differently.

What I was doing every single day…

was working through my challenges.

Not avoiding them.
Not pretending they weren’t there.
But finding a way to move forward with them.

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And that’s where WOWCP came from.

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W.O.W.C.P.

Working On Working through Challenges with Cerebral Palsy.

But over time, I realized something important.

It wasn’t just about cerebral palsy.

It was about life.

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WOWCP isn’t just something I created.

It’s something I lived.

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It was in the mornings when my body didn’t want to cooperate…

but I still found a way to get up.

It was in the moments when I felt different…

but still chose to show up.

It was in the quiet struggles no one saw—

the ones that didn’t get recognition,
the ones that didn’t get applause.

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It was in every moment I chose to keep going.

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For a long time, I didn’t see that as strength.

I saw it as something I had to do.

Something I didn’t have a choice in.

But now I understand…

That was strength.

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WOWCP is not about pretending things are easy.

It’s not about ignoring the hard parts.

It’s about learning how to move forward anyway.

It’s about understanding that challenges are part of life—

But they don’t have to stop you from living it.

When I think back to the woman who lived the example for me…

I realize something now that I didn’t see then.

She wasn’t just showing up.

She was living her WOWCP.

And without even knowing it…

I was learning how to live mine.

There was no moment where everything suddenly made sense.

No single day when I said, “This is it.”

It happened slowly.

Through experience.
Through reflection.
Through living.

And somewhere along the way…

WOWCP stopped being something I was trying to understand—

and became something I was becoming.

Now, when I look at my life…

I don’t just see the challenges.

I see everything I’ve worked through.

Everything I’ve overcome.

Everything that has shaped me into who I am today.

WOWCP is not just a phrase.

It’s not just an idea.

It’s a way of living.

It’s waking up and choosing to try again.

It’s showing up even when it’s hard.

It’s finding strength in places you didn’t know it existed.

And most importantly

It’s seeing the beauty…

between the challenges. 🌻

— Marie W.O.W.C.P.
Seeing the beauty between the challenges ✌️😊💛