The world will stop defining you by your challenges when you do – that’s what I realized this morning.
It’s 12 : 20 PM on day 1408 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read Psalm 95, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself oats with banana for breakfast, stretch my hamstrings, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and do research for my upcoming campaign – did you know that 66 million girls are out of school globally that’s shocking can you imagine what would happen if all those girls had an education they could and would break the cycle of poverty.
This morning I realized the world will stop defining you by your challenges when you do there was a time in my life when I would introduce myself on social media by saying I’m Nisha – a twenty-two-year-old with Cerebral Palsy looking back on those days I cringe now I don’t mention that I have Cerebral Palsy unless somebody asks me about it not because I’m ashamed of it but because it doesn’t define who I am as a person. Does the world define you by your challenges because you do?
There are several things that the world considers as it considers (defines) you: what you look like, how you make them feel, what you say and how you say it, what you do and how you do it, etc.
From one view point, there is the “why should they care about you or what you are doing?” Can you give them what they urgently and powerfully want? Or help them get it- faster, cheaper, etc.
In my humble opinion, letting people know about your challenges provides a humble honesty and vulnerability and, thereby, invitation and openness to a conversation, attention, and/or relationship.
You are right not to define yourself by the lower expectations that typically accompany people’s perceptions about disability. Because you can be heroic! Because you can do amazing things.
Thanks Stan. I never thought of it like that maybe I will let people know I have CP.