Tag: life

Disability

EMBRACING THE WEAKS PARTS OF MYSELF

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

I have been working on myself for the last couple of months. I know that the more weight I have on myself, the more the CP takes over, and the less independent I become. I hate to admit it, but I did go on a drug to help with another health issue, and it helps with my hunger craving. While this isn’t the end-all to my weight issues, being on the drug has slowed me down from overeating.

My weight is one of the weaker parts of who I am. I want to acknowledge and improve the areas of myself that need improvement, and strengthen them. My cerebral palsy was the weakest part of me. I thought I was stuck feeling that way for the rest of my life. Then, something clicked in me: If I befriended the weaker parts of myself, I could start to trust and embrace them. The first place to start was my disability. I had to merge who I was with who I wanted to be. It took me most of my life to realize that I had to overcome my challenges. Once I found strength, I started to feel free. By embracing my disability, I became best friends with this side of myself. I would now like to become friends with my weight.

It didn’t take overnight to become friends with my disability; it was a long process, just as it will be a long process to be comfortable with my weight. I know I need to be a healthy weight to help me maintain independence. I have lost a small amount already because I can get dressed better and my clothes are more comfortable; this is a small step. Steps are better than a big leap because no matter how long they take, they build the foundation for the outcome.

After building the foundation for losing weight, I also need to create a foundation for living on a budget. Life is getting so expensive, and like so many on disability, I live on a small budget. 

I have never been good with money. The next diet I need to go on is a financial diet. I’m now trying to learn how to make a budget that I can stick to. It has been hard because it means cutting out luxuries that make me feel happy, like going out to lunch or getting an iced hot chocolate. Although I miss these things, the real reward is that I’m saving money and I’m cooking at home, making healthier choices.

It’s not just about one thing here and there, but about all of these things added up. Every day that my clothes fit better and I have more mobility is a success. Every day that I can enjoy a walk (for free) or cook a meal at home is a success. Over time, all of these small victories add up to give me control over my life.

Disability

HOW PEOPLE SEE ME…BUT WHO I TRULY AM

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

What I am not is the first thing you see.

What I am not is the six legs I used to walk around.

What I am not is the handlebars I hold onto.

What I am not is what you see when I walk into a room.

What I am not is the way you see me on the outside.

What I am is a person who is just like you.

What I am is someone with self-worth.

What I am is someone with intelligence.

What I am is someone with dreams.

What I am is someone with hopes.

What I am not like another person with a disability that you know

What I am not is the label that I was born with

What I am not is your inspiration

What I am not the only person in the room with a walker.

What I am not is taking up space in life.

What I am not is letting my disability stop me.

What I am not is letting my disability affect how I live life.

What I am not is allowing myself to give up on myself.

What I am not is letting my challenges get in my way.

What I am not is letting my fears get in the way.

What I am is a creative person.

What I am is someone who gives love.

What I am is someone who receives love.

What I am is someone who loves life.

What I am is what you see, what you see in me. That is what is called judging what you are visiting with your eyes. When you judge with your eyes, you miss out on life because life is much more than what you see on the outside. When you remove the walker and the disability, all that is a person, just like you.

Disability

THE CHALLENGES INBETWEEN OUR CHALLENGES

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

I want to encourage everyone to love themselves. To love ourselves and our lives with disabilities, we need to understand our disabilities and how to work with them, not against them. Even though you see your disability as a weakness, it should be one of your best friends. You will be companions for life. Even the best roommates sometimes quarrel, but you work through the challenges.- Marie W.O.W.C.P.

A question I often get is, “How do I do all that I do?” Then they explain they wouldn’t know if they could do what I do if they had my challenges. I tell them that they will find a way to do their best, and you can go beyond that, just because I don’t mean I want to give up the life I was given because of your challenges. Something my family instilled in me is the strength they have. There are times when I would like to give up. When I feel like I want to give up, I kick myself in the behind.  I was taught never to give up on myself. I was also taught that if there is a challenge in my way, never give up on myself or the challenge. 

The challenges I was given have been the fuel that has kept me going throughout life. Yes, there have been times when I have forgotten to add fuel. I try not to fear life and strive not to give up; what helps me is my spirit. My fighting spirit has also seen me through my challenges. Not many people have a fighting spirit, but I was born with one.

If someone had asked me years ago how to describe my disability and the challenges that it gave me, I would have said it was the one part of me that I wished I could get rid of. If you asked me today what I would say about my disability, I would say it is the one thing that empowers me. So what happened between then and now? 

Life is challenging with cerebral palsy, but what about the challenges that arise between those challenges? Such as adding the life stressor that everyone experiences, whether they are disabled or not. These are the most challenging times for me. I am equipped for life with a disability. Still, it’s the life challenges that are woven into those everyday challenges that I wasn’t prepared for—the aging with CP, getting other genetic disabilities, and illness. Then there are life stressors, which I know none of us are ready for, but for those who already have stressors of their own, the added ones I wasn’t equipped for. I have always been equipped to handle the things that came with having CP, such as the challenges of the spasms, learning to walk, the falls, the breaks, the surgeries, the therapies, and making sure people know I’m more than my disability.

 I needed to learn how to control my emotions. People don’t talk about the emotional side of having CP. While people with CP have normal mental abilities, there are times when it doesn’t seem like it to me. As much as my parents never held back from events, it was still because there were milestones that you have as a child, a teen, or a young adult that I missed out on due to CP or being sheltered from things in life because of the CP. Those times added to my stress because they were the times when I felt different.

Adding unnecessary stress to myself not only made me feel different, but it also made my CP act up, which caused it to throw me off balance and make me fall.  

Sometimes I can’t help but feel stressed by things like ensuring I have enough money to live on, reading or watching the news, and having the PCA I need. As much as I love being independent, the challenges weren’t what I thought they would be.

With all the small challenges between the more significant ones, it’s still worth knowing that no matter what challenges I might face, they are still worth overcoming.

Disability

HELPING HANDS

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

The series

The word independent is a significant word to someone with cerebral palsy. The slogan of the community is “Life Without Limits.” This motto for a person with cerebral palsy and their loved ones becomes the ultimate goal, which is independence in our lives. There are four main classifications of cerebral palsy:

  • Spastic: 70-80% of the community is in the category with this
  • Dyskinetic: 10-20% of the community are in this type
  • Ataxic: 5-10% of the community have this style
  • Non-CP: about 5%, which means you have cerebral palsy, but someone can hardly see it 

If you are lucky enough (or not), you can have a mixture of two or all three. As for me, I’m mobile with the help of my walker, and am Spactic, Dyskinetic. As much as I can be independent and live life without limits, just like anyone, I have limitations (so part of me doesn’t quite believe in the “life without limits.” It just feels misleading to me); in a way, you do need help in life. Every person–with or without a disability–needs a hand in some way; it’s just about what kind of help a person needs to be independent. It should be “sky’s the limit” or “don’t underestimate us” because we want people to see us for who we are, not by our appearance.

When you have cerebral palsy, there are all kinds of levels of independence. You can have the autonomy of someone who doesn’t need help, then the type of cerebral palsy where you can be independent with minimal support. Lastly, there is the type of cerebral palsy that makes us entirely dependent on other people for help. The type of cerebral palsy that I have means that I can live independently with minimal help. When it comes to applying for this kind of support, it can be  tricky. I have always been caught between a rock and a hard place because I have cerebral palsy, and I need assistance with being otherwise fully independent. Having to ask for help to live independently makes you feel like you can’t be independent or competent to live like other adults. 

Generally, people with a physical or mental disability or seniors who need help with specific everyday tasks use Personal Care Assistants (PCA) services. I knew I had to get a PCA to help me (a Personal Care Assistant/Aide is trained to provide a wide range of services to individuals in their own homes. Still, because I moved on my own right in the middle of the pandemic, I wasn’t sure how that would go; I had to trust that the people who helped me would be a good fit during this time). As much as my parents loved and supported me and did anything for me, they still helped me more than they should have.

After the vaccines became available, I started thinking about getting someone to help by spring. I wasn’t sure how to proceed, but luckily, United Cerebral Palsy had just started a new program and hired an inclusion advocate. The inclusion advocate helps the clients of United Cerebral Palsy live entirely independent lives in the community.

Along with my inclusion advocate, I started working on things to help me be more independent, such as applying for SNAP (food stamps) and looking for and applying to a program that would best fit me for a PCA. Applying for SNAP was a snap (LOL)  (SNAP). Using a PCA took a little more because it involved some research. What kind of help would I need? I had already spent almost a year on my own. 

For me, the central help I need is with heavy cleaning and going food shopping. I’m okay with ensuring the dishes are clean and the daily stuff is organized, but when it comes to heavy cleaning, such as washing clothes, sweeping, mopping, and making my bed, things can get tricky because of my balance. 

The ultimate goal was to make myself independent in the best and safest way possible. Community First Choice was the one that best suited my needs (Community First Choice – CT.gov). The application process was pretty straightforward. This program is excellent because it works on the PCA waiver (Personal Care Assistance | Connecticut)

When the CFC person interviewed me, she was impressed with my independence but could see how fatigued I could become.  A big part of cerebral palsy is becoming quickly fatigued. Every person with cerebral palsy has a level of fatigue; mine can be very severe at times because not only do I have CP,, but I also have psoriatic arthritis (in remission)  Psoriasis – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic). I also have what is known as (Costochondritis – Symptoms and Causes – Mayo Clinic.)  When one of these health conditions acts up, it can debilitate me, let alone allow me to keep up with daily activities. At these times, I am grateful for the help that I have.

It took about a month for CFC to reply that I had been approved for 28 hours a week. The CFC program runs through my insurance, so unless I go over the 28 hours–at which point I would have to pay them out of pocket–all this help is paid for. 

The best part of the CFC program is because they work on the PCA waiver program, I get to pick who I want to help me. There are only two requirements: I can’t be married to the person or be dependent on them. See that either of these things don’t apply to me; I can hire anyone. It would be nice to fill the 28 hours with one person. It would be great, but that would be hard for one person. I have two PCAs, my sister-in-law, and a childhood friend.  It would be nice to add one more, but in time. 

Going through the process of becoming an independent person with a disability (from looking for a place to live to becoming an independent person with some help) has opened my eyes to the challenges of life. Still, there are programs to help people with disabilities be independent with a few good helping hands. 

Disability

MUSIC IS MY DRUG

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

Music is the sound of silence in a room full of noise. It is a friend when you need a friend. Music isn’t a movement that makes sense. Music can help you through any challenging, sad, lonely, or joyful time in life. It can make your heart light or heavy. Having cerebral palsy, music is the constant friend that I can lean on when no one is around.

Not only does the community have a hard time seeing past disabilities, but at some point in the life of a person with a disability, they will have trouble seeing past their disability. As people with a disability, we fight so much for others to see past the disability. We focus on making people see past the disability and forget that we are more than the disability. I had forgotten I was more than CP in the last few years because I wanted to see what CP was like as an adult. As a kid, I was in the back seat as my parents were in the driver’s seat doing so much to advocate for me, but I needed to support myself as a competent adult. I ran from my CP for so long that I needed to devote myself to knowing what CP would be like as an adult. 

When you devote your life to something, you forget about other parts of yourself. This part of my life is over. At the beginning of this chapter of my life, both sides of me were two separate parts of life; it was more that I wanted to intertwine these two sides of me. There was who I was; then there was the CP side. I was never sure if I wanted the two sides to be one because I saw my CP as my weakness. Once I devoted this period of my life to getting to know my CP. I learned that CP wasn’t my weakness but my strength. That was when I felt comfortable making these two sides become one.

Now, who is Josephine without? I’m Josephine, (I am) an average person who likes to do average things. One of the things I lost when trying to find who I was as an adult with CP was my passion for music. When I was born, my mom said they had put music next to me in the incubator crib from day one of my life. Music has been the one friend that has always been a comfort, and it’s a friend that I can turn to get my mind off of the CP.

The frustration of having limitations because of my CP has always been my source of anger and depression. Throughout life, music has always been the getaway of the pain, depression, and frustration that comes when you live with a disability that gives you limitations. The music comforts me when I’m down and pumps me up when I need a pep in my step.

Music is like a drug I can’t get enough of, like a bird to a birdfeeder. Music, for me, goes much deeper than the lyrics or meaning. It’s one thing that makes me feel free in a way that I can’t feel free. I think the rhythm throughout my body. When my cp is out of whack, I can pump the music in my ears, and the cp relaxes. I’m unsure why this happens, but I can’t explain its power over the CP. When my CP goes out of whack, it craves a specific genre of music. When my body is out of whack because of anger, my body craves punk rock such as Blink 182, Nirvana, and Collective Soul; when my body feels mellow, I go to contemporary such as Matchbox20, Andy Grammer, Jason Marz. I can feel the music from big bands to jazz, rap to country. Finally, R&B and the ’90s gave me the energy. When I go to a concert or somewhere with loud music, I feel like I’m in a pool, swimming freely to the point my body is unaffected by the CP.

Another aspect of music that interests me is how the pieces are put together. The skills and talent involved have always fascinated me. Growing up, I struggled a lot in school because I had many learning disabilities; I just learned what I needed to get by in life and never really explored other things. 

My dream was to be a DJ. When I started college, being a DJ, you needed steady hand skills, unlike nowadays, which is more digital. My dream of being a DJ didn’t come true; however, my passion for music still gets more profound love. I study and read about music as much as I can. I love the side of music: how people put the music together, what goes behind the song, how the song comes about. I’m not sure why I’m drawn to this site, but I find it attractive. 

When I realized my dream of being a DJ wouldn’t become a reality, music again had a new meaning for me, and I started to study it independently. I read books about what made artists appear in the music industry and how they got involved in music. Not only do I read about the artists and the music industry, but I also enjoy reading about what music does to the brain.

 I am fascinated by how the brain works because of my CP and its power on the body. I don’t like taking medicine if I don’t have to. I can get by just listening to music for the pain to go away; I find that music is not only influential on me as a person but is also influential on my disability.

Disability

GETTING READY IN THE MORNING

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

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.

Disability

NEW YEAR SAME ME

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

It’s a new year, and I’m making annual affirmations for myself. Everyone should re-evaluate once a year. The idea came from my coffee club, which I attend twice a month on Zoom. The group talked about resolutions they didn’t complete last year, and I liked the idea that we still had the opportunity to carry out those resolutions in the new year. We don’t have to give up. There are some things I just need to try again, and some things I need to keep reminding myself. We all have them. 

One of the things I’d like to keep trying is maintaining my daily affirmations. Whether I write them down or just think of them in the shower or during a walk, they’re important reminders that I matter. Here are just a few that work for me and may also help jump-start your own list:

  • I’m enough for myself
  • I believe in myself because I have overcome many obstacles and challenges. I’m proud of this
  • I am worthy of life and love
  • I have enough confidence to refuse to give up on anything
  • I’m brave 
  • I love who I have become 
  • I struggle, but I don’t let my struggles get the best of me 
  • I have learned to be enough for myself, in part by accepting my challenges
  • I know those challenges don’t make me better or worse; they are just a part of me
  • It has taken me years to learn that I believe in myself and realize Disability is just a word, not who we are 
  • I’m an independent person
  • I’m good enough for the people who give me a try, whether it’s family or an acquaintance

These words replay to remind me that I’m just like everyone else. It has taken me a long time to see that just because I have a disability, I’m not less of a person. It can be hard to stay positive, keep yourself focused, and find your worth when you have a disability. 

Many times in life, I lost track of myself temporarily because I didn’t feel like life gave me a fair purpose. For a time, I thought people only saw my disability. Over my lifetime, some people stood behind me and supported me. On the other side, some people weren’t so optimistic about what a young child or young adult should do when she has a disability. Educators told me I was taking up space in their class and for other kids who can learn. They didn’t think I deserved the same education, but if they got to know me, they’d see I had as much potential as my classmates.

So, how did I start to focus myself? First, I had to get those naysayers out of my head and tell myself they would win if I defined myself by their false impression of me. This just gave me my purpose. Whenever someone was a naysayer to me, I gave everything I had to prove them wrong. 

Then, when those people came back around to see that I overcame my obstacles, which they didn’t expect of me, they felt like fools. My purpose has constantly been proving people wrong, but when it came to proving myself wrong, that was a whole different ballpark.

I didn’t know how to tell myself that I was good enough. So, having these affirmations in my head replaces the naysayers. Rather than the snap judgements of others that used to play on a loop in my head, I repeat what I know of myself, which is positive.

If you are like I was, I invite you to practice affirmations of all the positive things in your life. Play them on repeat in your mind. It’s okay, don’t be shy. We all have things to work on and remind ourselves. You don’t have to say them out loud, they can just be for you. After all, we live in our own minds and we deserve for that to be a healthy space.

Disability

BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES (THE SONG)

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

Beautiful challenges were the one thing she couldn’t see in herself.

The more formidable the challenge was, the more beautiful she became.

The kind of beautiful she was was easy for everyone but her to see.

It took time for her to see the beauty in her challenges.

The beauty of her challenges was that she defeated them with so much grace.

She lived with many challenges.

To her, her challenges were hers and hers alone

She even saw her challenges in her reflection.

Her imperfect reflection of her is that she would never be strong enough for this life.  

She doesn’t remember a day when she didn’t have those challenges. It took time for her to see her challenges as beautiful.

Beautiful challenges were the one thing she couldn’t see in herself.

The more formidable the challenge was, the more beautiful she became.

The kind of beautiful she was was easy for everyone but her to see.

It took time for her to see the beauty in her challenges.

The beauty of her challenges was that she defeated them with so much grace.

Her challenges made her who she is.

She thinks her challenges held her back.

What she didn’t realize was that her challenges were beautiful.

The more challenges she overcame, the more she conquered life.

Conquering her challenges was the most beautiful she could be in life.

Beautiful challenges were the one thing she couldn’t see in herself.

The more formidable the challenge was, the more beautiful she became.

The kind of beautiful she was was easy for everyone but her to see.

It took time for her to see the beauty in her challenges.

The beauty of her challenges was that she defeated them with so much grace.

The beauty in her challenges was in the way she walked, talked, and looked at life.

Life may have been a challenge, but she never gave it a second thought.

All she wanted was to be a part of life, but getting where she wanted to go was challenging. 

She wanted to go as far as she could, but her body would sometimes only let her go so far.

The further her body would let her go, the less she saw her challenges. 

Beautiful challenges were the one thing she couldn’t see in herself.

The more formidable the challenge was, the more beautiful she became.

The kind of beautiful she was was easy for everyone but her to see.

It took time for her to see the beauty in her challenges.

The beauty of her challenges was that she defeated them with so much grace.

The challenge for her was to realize the challenge was not to add more to the challenges she already had.

The beauty of her challenge was that she had days when her challenges wanted so badly to win out, but she wouldn’t let them.

When she overcame her challenges, she proved to others and herself that she had overcome them.

Overcoming her challenges was the one thing she forced because it empowered her to become who she wanted to be.

Empowering herself was the goal to kick her challenges in the ass.

Beautiful challenges were the one thing she couldn’t see in herself.

The more formidable the challenge was, the more beautiful she became.

The kind of beautiful she was was easy for everyone but her to see.

It took time for her to see the beauty in her challenges.

The beauty of her challenges was that she defeated them with so much grace.

Disability

EVERYDAY

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

Every day they spend together is a day they Cherish

Cherishing the time they spent together was all they wanted 

They remember the days when they wasted time not spending time 

Time was the one thing they couldn’t get back

If time could only go backward, they would have more time to cherish each other.

Every day is a beautiful journey together. 

The beautiful journey starts by waking up in each other’s arms

Every day is beautiful, and the times they cherish with each other bring smiles to them that they always have waited for.

Their smiles would light up the night

The night was packed with their love for each other 

Every day they spend together is a day they Cherish

Cherishing the time they spent together was all they wanted 

They remember the days when they wasted time not spending time 

Time was the one thing they couldn’t get back

If time could only go backward, they would have more time to cherish each other.

Every day, there is a new chapter in their story.

Their story started long before they became one.

When their eyes met for the first time, they knew.

Their hearts felt the connection before they knew what was happening.

The connection just kept getting stronger.

Every day they spend together is a day they Cherish

Cherishing the time they spent together was all they wanted 

They remember the days when they wasted time not spending time 

Time was the one thing they couldn’t get back

If time could only go backward, they would have more time to cherish each other.

AWARENESS, CEREBRAL PALSY, CHALLRNGES, DISABILIATIES, Disability, EMPOWER, HEALTH, LIVING MY BEST LIFE, PHYSICAL DISABITY, SELF-AWEARNESS

FORGIVENESS

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES

Everyone says I have a fantastic story to share about life. When people say I say it’s just what I was given, I had to make the best of the life I was given. However, I want to tell my story, but I have a lot more to learn about life and about myself. During the Pandemic, I started the journey because I was forced to be locked in my apartment. I moved out of my family’s home for the first time and it was six months into a 4-year Pandemic. I could only visit with a small pod of people for the first year and a half, leaving plenty of time for me to become best friends with my computer.

My computer became the best friend I needed, and it didn’t judge me. I would sit at the computer most of the day and write what was on my mind and in my heart. Some of the stuff I would write about was hard to face, while others were fun to remember. The writing was therapeutic for me. I learned to talk about my challenges, even if I was just just talking to my computer.

While talking to the computer, I was able to put different parts of my life into perspective. I saw that being afraid of who I was hindering myself from reaching my full potential. 

A lot of people would expect my life to get harder during the pandemic with such limited help, but instead, it opened me up in many ways, even though I was shut inside. Even though the Pandemic made my challenges even more difficult, it didn’t make them any less beautiful.

Challenges can be beautiful in many ways. It can be hard to see how beautiful challenges can be if you are the one with said challenges. For example, I was living on my own for the first time, and I was managing my own place by myself. Even though I had limited help, I had unlimited creativity. I was able to make my apartment my own style. I could plan my own meals and cook them in my own pots and pans, and do my own laundry. It was challenging, but I grew to love who I was and what I could become.

For the first time in my life, I was able to fall in love the right way by getting closer with a good friend of mine. I used my computer for this, too. This is just one of many ways my computer helped me. I was able to use it to travel all around the world. I got to know what the pandemic was like in different countries.

The challenge of the pandemic was made beautiful by giving me a new way to explore the world online. My world became so much more than I ever thought I could have. While learning about my beautiful challenges during the pandemic, I also saw how to forgive myself. Even though I never showed it, I held it in my mind that my disability would stop me from having the life that I wanted.

During this whole journey, I learned that whether you are born with a disability or acquire one in life, challenges are beautiful. Once I saw myself, I took a turn in life, making me accept who I was. I know how difficult it could be looking past our negativity, but there comes a time when we must look beyond what we see in ourselves, and what other people see in us. Every obstacle we overcome has a purpose and a meaning.

When overcoming a struggle, I don’t see it as anything significant. I just see it as part of life. Whether you were born with a disability or acquired one in life, believe it or not, our challenges are beautiful. It took me a long time to see that in myself. Once I saw that in myself, I took a turn in life, making me accept who I am. I know how difficult it can be to look past our negativity, but there comes a time when we have to start looking beyond what we see in ourselves and what people see in us. Every obstacle we overcome has a purpose and meaning. When overcoming a struggle, I don’t see it as anything significant; I just see it as a part of life. As a kid, I used to fall, then just get up and move on like nothing happened. People used to ask me how I could do that; I would just say it’s a part of life. It’s not that I don’t see my challenges or seek help for them; I just try not to let them get to me. If I try not to let my difficulties get to me, then when people meet and get to know me, they don’t see my disability. They see the person I am, and isn’t that what you want people to see in the long run?

Challenge means: A call to participate in a contest or a competition, especially a duel. When I look at this definition, I think about what I was like in the past. I thought I was competing with my peers.  I realized I wasn’t competing with my peers. I was competing with my disability. By competing with myself, I lost more time than if I just went with the flow and my challenges.  Yet, I would not change a thing.  Whether they were the challenges I was born with or the challenges I added to life, they made me who I am.  

Results may vary based on the life you’re living. Your challenges won’t be identical to mine, but there are ways to make them beautiful. I invite you to look at ways to broaden your horizon even if you don’t or can’t leave the comfort of your own home.