Category: CEREBRAL PALSY
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Menopause, Cerebral Palsy, and the Challenges of Healthy Eating
Our Beautiful ChallengesBy Marie W.O.W.C.P. There is something I have been thinking about a lot lately as I move closer to menopause. Everywhere you look, people talk about what women should eat during this stage of life. More protein.More calcium.More vegetables.More fresh foods.Less sugar.Less processed food. And while I understand why those things matter… I…
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The Peace I Found Within Myself
Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie There was a time when the only peace I could find was through loud music in my ears. Music helped me breathe. It gave me somewhere to go when my thoughts felt too loud.It helped me escape the frustration I felt inside myself. For a long time, I didn’t like…
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Protecting My Peace Is Growth
I write a gratitude entry every day and sometimes I turn them into blog posts There comes a point in life when you realize that protecting your peace is just as important as protecting your heart. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to understand how important it is to pay attention to the energy around…
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A Healthier Me, A More Independent (Part 3)
A Healthier Me, A More Independent Me (Part 3) Taking care of myself is not about perfection—it’s about learning what works for me. After learning to rest without guilt…and after beginning to understand how I see myself…I realized something important: Taking care of myself is not just one thing. It’s not just rest.It’s not just…
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PT1 The Women Who Lived the Example
Becoming the Living Example Series Our Beautiful ChallengesBy Marie W.O.W.C.P. There are people who come into your life and change you without even realizing it. For me, that person was a teacher I had growing up — a woman who also had cerebral palsy. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what that meant. I…
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The Quiet Power of Advocacy: What Advocacy Meant to Me Then
By Marie W.O.W.C.P. Advocacy is something that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When you live with a disability, advocacy is not something you choose. It is something that grows with you. There are times in your life when other people advocate for you. And for me,…
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I Am Allowed to Take Up Space
By Marie W.O.W.C.P. For a long time, I tried to make myself smaller. Smaller in my voice. Smaller in my needs. Smaller in the space I took up in the world. Living with cerebral palsy sometimes made me feel as if I was already noticed before I even spoke. People noticed how I walked. They…
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Learning to Rest Without Guilt Part 1
A Healthier Me, A More Independent Me By Marie W.O.W.C.P. For a long time, rest felt complicated to me. There was always a part of my mind telling me that if I slowed down, I was somehow falling behind. That if I rested, I was wasting time. Living with cerebral palsy, my body often asks…
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The Women Behind the Walker
By Marie W.O.W.C.P. When people first meet me, one of the first things they often notice is my walker. They notice how I move. They notice the pace of my body. They notice the physical challenge before they notice the woman standing behind it. For a long time, that used to bother me. Because while…
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My Disability is Part of the Story, Not the Whole Story
Our Beautiful ChallengesBy Marie W.O.W.C.P. Welcome to Our Beautiful Challenges. This space is more than a blog. It is a place for truth, healing, reflection, and the beauty still to be found within life’s hardest moments. For much of my life, I felt as though people saw one thing first. The way I walk. The…
OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES 