Tag Archives: Perseverance

Day 292

Having a unique perspective on the world can be an extraordinary asset, whether it be in the labour force or the marketplace of ideas or simply as a good friend. – Shasta (author of Outrageous Fortune)

It’s 8: 26 PM on day 292 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Batura for breakfast, go to my brother’s friend’s holy communion party – it was nice enough I made friends with the pastor’s wife who stuck out like a sore thumb amongst all the Indians – the pastor and his wife were white – in spite of the fact that I was thinking about my grandma most of the time (see the next paragraph to understand why) – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – and brush my teeth once more.

As you know I have been discriminated against all my life because of my disability which is why I felt sick to my stomach when my entire family decided unanimously that they would leave my grandma in the care of the housekeeper while all of us went to a party although no one else seemed to have any qualms about it. Does your unique perspective on life make it impossible for you to be indifferent towards another?

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 291

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Mental illness is a family disease– that’s what I learned today 🙁

It’s 9: 35 PM on day 291 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, – feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – help make 40 sandwiches as part of Virginia’s Sandwich Run – I am SO proud of myself 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, prepare my Kid of the Week feature for Sunday and brush my teeth once more.

As you know my grandma and I are very close and in honour of the person she used to be I am going to share with you the symptoms of “her” disease in the hopes that it will help you and your family. Take a look:

The Signs of Dementia through All Three Phases

Early

Word-finding difficulty – May be able to compensate by using synonyms or defining the word

Forgetting names, appointments, or whether or not the person has done something; losing things

Difficulty performing familiar tasks – Driving, cooking a meal, household chores, managing personal finances

Personality changes (for example, sociable person becomes withdrawn or a quiet person is coarse and silly)

Uncharacteristic behaviour

Mood swings, often with brief periods of anger or rage

Poor judgment

Behaviour disorders – Paranoia and suspiciousness

Decline in level of functioning but able to follow established routines at home

Confusion, disorientation in unfamiliar surroundings – May wander, trying to return to familiar surroundings

Intermediate

Worsening of symptoms seen in early dementia, with less ability to compensate

Unable to carry out activities of daily living (eg, bathing, dressing, grooming, feeding, using the toilet) without help

Disrupted sleep (often napping in the daytime, up at night)

Unable to learn new information

Increasing disorientation and confusion even in familiar surroundings

Greater risk of falls and accidents due to poor judgment and confusion
Behaviour disorders – Paranoid delusions, aggressiveness, agitation, inappropriate sexual behaviour

Hallucinations

Confabulation (believing the person has done or experienced things that never happened)

Inattention, poor concentration, loss of interest in the outside world

Abnormal moods (anxiety, depression)

Severe

Worsening of symptoms seen in early and intermediate dementia

Complete dependence on others for activities of daily living

May be unable to walk or move from place to place unassisted

Impairment of other movements such as swallowing – Increases risk of malnutrition, choking, and aspiration (inhaling foods and beverages, saliva, or mucus into lungs)

Complete loss of short- and long-term memory – May be unable to recognize even close relatives and friends

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!

Day 290

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You should mourn the life you will never have – that’s what I learned today.

It’s 9: 08 PM on day 290 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Bonnie (@Bonnie67) made another donation – thanks Bonnie 🙂 – tweet about my campaign some more – no further luck 🙁 – watch TV, feed myself custard for lunch, read 10 Reasons My Son’s Cerebral Palsy Is Awesome – a guest post on Love That Max written by Shasta over at Outrageous Fortune – it was a refreshing blog post in that she took everything bad about her son’s Cerebral Palsy and made it good 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

This morning my mother asked my father if my sister didn’t need to apply for her license and that just drove me to tears not because I was jealous of my sister getting her license but because I was sad that I would never get mine and since I didn’t want my sister to feel guilty for being able-bodied when she woke up and asked me why I was crying I blamed it on PMS and held back the rest of my tears until I was alone in the bathroom. Is the life you could have had an elephant in the room or simply a dream that you’ve let go of?
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!

Day 289

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You can’t give your power away – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 9: 00 PM on day 289 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, go watch Transformers 3: Dark of the moon – I give it a 10/10 it has a bit of everything I highly reccommend it 🙂 – watch TV, answer Jenise‘s (@JeniseFryatt) interview questions – we met on Twitter, I told her my story and she asked to interview me – brush my teeth once more and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck.

Today as my mother was getting me ready to go to the movies I really did not want to go partly because I did not want to create more work for my mother and partly because I wasn’t strong enough to tell myself that people were just curious when I caught them staring at me but then I realized that if I didn’t go I would be letting all the ignorant people of the world win so I yucked it up and stepped out into the real world. Are you miserable because the world controls your every move?

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!

Day 288

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You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. – Dr. Phil C. McGraw

It’s 8: 35 PM on day 288 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck 🙁 – read Love That Max and Ryn’s Tale Book of Days: Livin to the point of tears – my goodness there are some FANTASTIC parents out there 🙂 – watch TV while feeding myself an egg sandwich for brunch, watch some TV while exercising, publish My Book Self – a new page on this blog which will feature all the books that I can remember reading over the course of my twenty year life – feed myself rice and curry for dinnerand brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday evening while I was editing and adding new books to My Book Shelf I couldn’t help but notice that all but four of the books that I had ever read were romance novels and in that moment I had an epiphany I was looking for love in guys – both fictional and real – because I did not feel loved by father and to remedy that I told myself what I wished my father had told me you’re beautiful I am so proud of you. Are you in denial about what you need?

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!

Day 287

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If you judge people, you have no time to love them. ~ Mother Teresa

It’s 7: 32 PM on day 287 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Chapati and beef curry for breakfast, listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, exercise for fifteen minutes while watching TV, brush my teeth once more –a guest was arriving and I didn’t want to occupy the bathroom while he was here – start preparing My Book Shelf – a page on this blog which consists of all the books I remember reading over the course of my twenty year life – and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – I woke up to find that Bonnie (@bonnie67) made a donation – seven kids most of who have disabilities and she still managed to find the money to make a donation I’ll never get over it – thank you SO much Bonnie 🙂

Yesterday we had some company over at our house and quite unusually I wasn’t lost in thought thinking she probably feels sorry for me while she was talking to me and as a result before she left she handed me R50 and told me to make more sandwiches on her behalf – I had mentioned that I was making sandwiches for our housekeeper’s neighborhood during our conversation – which surprised me considering I didn’t even ask for a donation. Is your inability to connect with people solely due to the fact that you’re constantly judging them?

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!

Day 286

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Gratitude is the memory of the heart. ~Jean Baptiste Massieu

It’s 7: 21 PM on day 286 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, get one hand out of my jersey’s sleeve – I have got to show my mother that if she continues to help me I’ll either end up institutionalized or worse being a burden on my siblings – spend some time with my cousin – some of things he says about gay people makes me cringe but I still love him like a brother 🙂 – feed myself bun, potato salad and beef curry for brunch, publish my Kid of the Week feature tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – read Do you know where you are going? by Janet Callaway (@janetcallaway) – a very well written and honest blog post about how to get where you’re going in your life 🙂 – and feed myself bun and grilled chicken for dinner.

Yesterday my father was talking to cousin and saying stuff like we don’t go anywhere, we don’t do anything, we don’t earn a lot of money and in that moment I realized that he would never have enough of anything because he couldn’t see what he already had. Do you have amnesia of the heart?

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!

Day 285

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A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend. ~Author Unknown

It’s 6: 35 PM on day 285 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg– sunny side up – and toast for breakfast, listen to music, read And God Laughs and Little Wonders–the first blog I could totally relate too while the second one I LOVED because I could feel the love this mom of five had for her family in every word she wrote 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – after thirteen LONG days the donation drought is finally over ‘Anonymous’ made a donation – thank you Anonymous 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, prepare my Kid of the Week feature for tomorrow – this week’s ‘Kid of the Week’ and I have something in common stay tuned to see what it is 🙂 – listen to music some more, feed myself bun, potato salad and grilled chicken for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

A few weeks ago I launched my reading challenge and asked you to read one book per week for the entire year and in keeping with the theme of reading I will be creating a new page on this blog which will feature all the books that I can remember reading over the course of my twenty year life because I believe that someone who reads is more likely to act in the face of injustice because he/she has learned empathy. Do you have friends yet to be discovered and shared sitting right on your book self?

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!

Day 284

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When you fight something, you’re tied to it forever. As long as you’re fighting it, you’re giving it power. – Anthony de Mello

It’s 7: 42 PM on day 284 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself cheese puffs for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – thirteen days and counting 🙁 – read Blogzilly and Single Dad, Disabled Daughter – the first blog made me sad because my heart yearned for a dad like that while the second blog left me awestruck because I couldn’t imagine what it was like for a father to raise his disabled daughter by himself 🙂 – watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch some more TV and feed myself rice and curry for dinner.

As you know Osama Bin Laden was killed a few weeks ago and although I am glad that there is one less evil person in the world I also know that Osama himself was only a figurehead in that he already had a successor in place in the event of his death and I have no doubt that his successor also has a successor and so on and so on my point is the only way to combat terrorism is through planting the seeds of oneness in the heart of every human being. Do you fight for peace or fight against war?

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!

Day 283

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Being a parent is about allowing your children to be who they truly are– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 58 PM on day 283 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, read Love That Max, Chasing Rainbow and Outrageous Fortune – the first two blogs I read I’ve read a few times while I had never even heard of the third although I have to admit it was really heart-warming to read about this woman’s appreciation of her husband before I read that post I really thought that marriage was just another form of imprisonment but after reading that I’m beginning to change my mind 🙂 – watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck but I am hopeful because someone promised to make a donation later today 🙂 – feed myself grilled fish, potatoes and salad for dinner, and brush my teeth once more.

Today after my brother left for school in tears my mother came into my room and said I should stop asking him what J’s – his friend’s – marks are maybe that’s why he’s sad and in that moment I was SO angry that I said you love your children for what they can do and not who they are to which she responded if that was true I wouldn’t love you which suffice to say hurt my feelings. Do you love your children for who they truly are or for what they can do to bolster your image in society’s eyes?

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!