The world’s perception of a particular population is often not the reality – that’s what I have realized.

It’s 12 : 13 PM on day 1696 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Daniel 7, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –Bull sharks have developed special adaptations that keep salt in their bodies, enabling them to live in freshwater. Bull sharks are aggressive and usually live near high-population areas like tropical shorelines. Many experts consider bull sharks to be the most dangerous sharks in the world –  feed myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast  and  promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 847 raised so far so grateful (thank you to everyone who has supported this campaign so far 🙂 )

Yesterday sick of seeing any differently-abled person doing something worthwhile being labelled “inspirational” I took the liberty of writing down what I am and am not and what my life is and isn’t in the hopes that it will change the way the world views differently-abled people. Take a look:

What I am and am not and what my life is and isn’t

I am:

• Strong
• Courageous (at times)
• Adaptable
• Persistent
• Loving
• Giving
• Compassionate
• Grateful

I am not:

• Inspirational (I am not inspirational I just have extra challenges in one area of my life which I work around (often with a lot of help))
• Pitiful
• Sad (my mom catches me smiling without reason and asks why I’m smiling)
• Completely helpless (I need help with certain things but there are things I can do for myself)

My life is:

• Meaningful (in recent years I’ve gone to bed most nights knowing I tried my best to make a difference you can’t buy that feeling)
• Joyful (most days I tell jokes (often at my own expense) I laugh and I tease)
• Peaceful (no matter what’s going on around me I feel peaceful inside knowing I will be okay)
• Lonely (I have my family and they are awesome but it’s not the same as having true friends (the people who could potentially be my friends in real life are so careful around me that I know that we can never be true friend because to be true friends with someone you have to view them as your equal and not as someone that has to be handled with care))

My life isn’t:

• Sad (when I’m running my own race and not worrying about where I’m supposed to be or where I would have been I absolutely love my life)
• Boring (I have so many goals to achieve and so many hobbies to enjoy that I really don’t have time to be bored)
• Easy (I have work twice as hard to do the simple things that most people take for granted)