Tag Archives: Ignorance

Day 3045: The Carpenter Who Taught Me To Stand Up For Myself

God made me like this so that I could show people that it’s okay to be different – that’s what the carpenter reminded me

It’s 1: 10 PM on day 3045 since I started blogging and I managed to pray, read a Bible verse, spend time outside and do some work

Last week Carpenter comes “May I pray for you?” I let him touch my head and pray for me (figuring what harm could it do? – always better to be kind) . Fast forward to this week same man:

Carpenter: I’ll pray for you Usha
Mom: it’s Nisha not Usha
Me: I’ll pray for you too.
God made me like this so that I could show people that it’s okay to be different.
Carpenter: Not for long God doesn’t want you to be like this – he wants you to walk and run. Just believe
Me on repeat: God made me like this so that I could show people that it’s okay to be different #DifferentIsCOOL – I’M BLESSED NOT BROKEN the whole world needs to know that. I am as God intended me to be. God loves me.

This is not the first time someone has said such things to me nor will it be the last but this incident my soul has absorbed and my spirit has been dampened by because I realize that there are many people like the carpenter who share the view that all who are different need to be “cured” in order that they may be okay.

Day 1876: India, Fear and Ignorance

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“To me, Fearless is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.” ― Taylor Swift

It’s 12 : 43 PM on day 1876 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Acts 21, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing -Definitions for desultory 1) digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark. 2) lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.- have breakfast and work on my potential future project.

As you may or may not know my family and I are going on vacation to India in less than a month I am both excited for and apprehensive about our trip excited because I haven’t seen my family over there in like three years and apprehensive because the last time I was there every time I went out in public I was made to feel like a circus-freak my parents will probably try to keep me inside in an effort to protect me but they will fail miserably because come what may I fully intend on being out there in public in people’s faces I refuse to hide in my house like I’ve committed some sort of crime I’ve earned the right to roll through this life with my head held high.

(Note: My intention in writing this post is not to give India or my fellow Indians a bad name I’m just writing from my past experience).

Day 1690: Ignorance, Bliss and the Progression of a Girl’s Life

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Ignorance would be bliss sometimes – that’s what I’ve recently realized.

It’s 12 : 34 PM on day 1690 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Daniel 1, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – Weight [of wildebeasts]:330 to 550 lbs (150 to 250 kg ) – feed myself an egg sandwich and a banana for breakfast and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 774 raised so far SO GRATEFUL (a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this campaign so far you are helping to get girls in school and keep them there thereby breaking the cycle of poverty and creating a generational change).

Recently I’ve noticed that everybody I know in my age range is either getting married or wants to get married it’s a bitter-sweet thing it’s sweet because I’m sincerely happy that they are progressing in their lives and it’s bitter because I know my life is not following the same path as theirs sometimes I wish I was oblivious to how a girl’s life is supposed to progress it would make life so much less painful but alas I’m not oblivious some nights I lay awake and despite my best efforts to envision a different future for myself I see myself being a third wheel in my family members lives which is basically my worst nightmare come to life.

Day 801

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You can choose to forgive someone even before they ask for forgiveness – that’s what I learned today.

It’s 2 : 54 PM on day 801 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to stretch my hamstrings, brush my teeth, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast,drink juice in a glass by myself, watch TV, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and practice typing with both hands.

Yesterday afternoon my dad and sister were going to the mall and my mom being my mom insisted that I tag along all of a sudden my dad started freaking out asking why don’t you take her in the past his words would have felt like a punch in the stomach but this time I just chalked it up to ignorance and enjoyed my trip to the mall with my mom and sister (my dad came with us but once we entered the mall he went to the pharmacy and we went shopping) one day my dad may apologize for the way he’s treated me but it won’t make any difference to me because I’ve already forgiven him. Do you have it in you to forgive someone before they ask for forgiveness?

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Day 374

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No one is above discrimination – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 35 PM on day 374 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a boiled egg and a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, practice writing with my hand, watch The Rugby World Cup match: South Africa vs. Namibia – we won 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck –prepare my Disability of the Day feature, compile a post for Youth Voices–a section of NorthFork Collective Voices headed by my friend, Mark McKinney –prepare my Kid of the Week feature for Sunday, feed myself spaghetti bolognaise for lunch, continue reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, watch TV, feed myself oranges for dinner, brush my teeth once more and publish my Disability of the Day feature.

Yesterday while my father was talking to one of his old school friends online he said my eldest daughter is twenty and has a small problem… a small disability and I was mortified because I would never say to a friend of mine who I haven’t spoken to in years my father is forty something and has this, that and the other because I know that the medical conditions he has doesn’t make him who he is I just wish he had extended me the same courtesy but whatever. Would you discriminate against your children if they were different in some way?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 373

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Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s 7: 06 PM on day 373 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, practice writing by hand, practice typing with two hands, feed myself oats for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Chrissy (@chrissy_bertolo) made a donation to my campaign via PayPal and as I told her I will make the donation on her behalf ASAP – thanks again Chrissy 🙂 – watch TV, tweet about my campaign some more–no further luck– feed myself spaghetti bolognaise for lunch, prepare my Disability of the Day feature – read the next paragraph for more information about this feature to be published as soon as this post is published – continue reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, watch some more TV, feed myself yoghurt for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday I was doing something – I forgot what it was – when the words Disability of the Day – the name of a forthcoming page ont his blog – popped into my head the idea behind Disability of the Day is to educate people about the different disabilities that people around the world are affected by every day why am I doing this you may ask well because upwards of FIVE-HUNDRED people read this blog EVERY MONTH and I feel it my responsibility to make the world a little less ignorant for the next generation of children whose differences will be more pronounced than those of the rest. Are you living dangerously?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!continue reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins,