Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie

There are moments in life when making peace with your journey feels harder than facing the journey itself.

For me, one of the biggest struggles has been learning how to see myself beyond my disability.

If I’m being honest, I have always known that I am more than my cerebral palsy.

The challenge wasn’t knowing it.

The challenge was believing it when other people didn’t.

There were times in my life when I felt at my lowest. Times when it seemed like the people around me only saw my disability. They saw the way I walked before they saw my personality. They saw my challenges before they saw my strengths.

And when enough people see you that way, something begins to happen.

You start wondering if they might be right.

Not because you truly believe it deep down, but because hearing the same message over and over can wear on you. It can make you question things you once knew to be true.

It is difficult to tell yourself that you are not what other people think you are.

It is difficult to hold on to your own truth when the world keeps trying to hand you a different story.

Over the years, I have learned that making peace with my journey isn’t about pretending those experiences didn’t hurt.

It isn’t about pretending the challenges were easy.

And it isn’t about pretending that discrimination, assumptions, or judgment don’t leave scars.

Making peace with my journey means refusing to let those experiences define who I am.

It means standing in front of my reflection and reminding myself that I am more than what other people see.

More than their assumptions.

More than their limitations.

More than the labels they place on me.

The truth is, believing those negative voices is a waste of time and energy, even though it can be tempting when you’re hurting.

Those voices were never meant to write my story.

I was.

And maybe that is what I’ve finally learned.

I was never meant to become the person other people expected me to be.

I was meant to become myself.

Maybe that is what peace looks like.

Not having all the answers.

Not having a perfect life.

Not never feeling hurt again.

But choosing to believe in the possibilities for your life instead of the limitations others try to place on it.

For years, it was easier for me to focus on the obstacles than it was to imagine what was possible.

Today, I choose possibility.

Today, I choose to believe in myself.

And today, I can honestly say that I am making peace with my journey.

Because I am more than my disability.

I always have been.

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