The Growth I Had to Fight For

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Personal growth is something people talk about all the time.

People talk about healing.
Confidence.
Finding yourself.

But what many people don’t realize
is that for some of us, growth takes a little longer.

Especially when you are trying to grow while also carrying challenges that affect your everyday life.

For a long time, I thought I would never get where I wanted to be emotionally or mentally.

Not because I didn’t want it enough.
But because so much of my energy was already going toward simply getting through life.

Living with a physical disability means there are things people don’t always see.

The extra stress on your body.
The mental exhaustion.
The emotional weight of constantly feeling different.

And when so much energy is spent surviving or adapting,
personal growth can sometimes feel out of reach.

There were moments in my life when I thought:

Maybe this is just who I am.
Maybe I’ll never fully feel comfortable with myself.
Maybe I’ll never feel confident or peaceful within my own life.

But what I’ve learned is that growth does not always happen loudly.

Sometimes it happens slowly.
Quietly.
Over years of fighting through things no one else fully understands.

And that’s what happened for me.

I had to work harder to find myself.
Harder to build confidence.
Harder to understand my worth outside of my disability.

But eventually, little by little,
I started seeing the growth I thought would never come.

I started seeing strength instead of limitation.
Possibility instead of shame.

And now I understand something I wish I knew years ago:

Just because your growth takes longer
does not mean it isn’t happening.

Some people bloom quickly.
Others bloom after fighting through storms.

Both are still growth.

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

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