For me, getting ready for the day is a whole different experience from anyone without disabilities. Getting ready starts the night before; I make sure I have everything prepared for the following day, including whether I have to pack a bag, my clothes, enough bus tickets to get on the bus, and something in mind for breakfast. If I need to pack a snack or lunch, I need to prepare that, most of all, making sure I have a ride for the morning. I have to make a ride 5-7 in advance to ensure I have a ride to take me where I need to go.
In the morning, there is another mental checklist I have to follow. I set the alarm for 6:30 to 7:00 am to get out the door by 8:45 am to wait for my trainspation. Before then, I needed to get myself up, but as I age, it’s getting harder to pop out of bed like a toast from the toaster, so most day I have to set my alarm 30 minutes earlies so I can stretch out my body from a long night of being curled up in bed. Then I get up, wash up, and get dressed. This can take up to 45 minutes, depending on how I feel in the morning. It’s getting more challenging to get my socks and shoes on. I’m so thankful my boyfriend doesn’t mind helping me when he’s around. My socks and shoes have always been a challenge, but now more because I’m overweight. My weight is something I’m working on, but we will talk about my weight in another blog.
After getting dressed and washing up, I have under an hour to get breakfast and grab things I might need for the day out. I bring a bag with things I will need for the day, or if I’m going somewhere and need my computer, I’ll bring that. I try to be out in the hall 10 to 15 minutes before the bus gets here so I can be waiting. Most days, I just go to the YMCA, but when I get there, I feel like I have already had a workout.
Getting ready for the day can be so exhausting, but it’s worth. Just because I’m disabled doesn’t mean I should stay in the house and waste my life away. That isn’t what I was put on this earth for: I was put on this earth to enjoy the life I was given. For some people, such as me and others who are disabled, it is a struggle, but those struggles should empower you every day to live life.
OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES 