Tag Archives: Human rights

Day 401

Always take what you do seriously you never know who you’re impacting – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 06 PM on day 401 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself oats for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, type up a few more pages for my mother –I officially raised R1 994–$249 – for my campaign by typing –I am SO happy – feed myself rice and curry for lunch and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck today but Chrissy (formely @chrissy_bertolo now @ChrissyPappas) made another donation yesterday and Stan Faryna (@faryna) announced that he is giving away items ranging from art to beautiful clocks all worth more than $1 000 to people who donate to my campaign read his post – Luxurious decorations for your castle or estate #free – for details on how you can get your hands on the items that are up for grabs – thanks Chrissy and Stan you guys are AWESOME :)–

Last night peaceofmindparent from Embracing Special Needs Parenthood left a comment on my Gratitude Journal of 2011 (see comment below) which made me realize that I inspire people just by being myself and strangely enough after that it did not bother me that my parents had basically written me off as a lost cause and invested all their hopes into my two younger siblings because I knew that my choosing this path that I am on I sacrificed being the pride of my family for being (this is going to sound so self-important please know that that is definitely NOT my intention) the pride of the world. Do you do whatever you do keeping in mind that you’re impacting more people than you know?

Nisha, your wonderful blog appears in my “Tag Surfer” window and I skim it often but today was the day that I finally clicked on a link and looked around your site. I felt more and more inspired by you and your tenacity and your generosity. I was enjoying your gratitude list, scrolling down and thinking how nice it was that you took the time to be grateful, until I got to the end of the list, today, and saw that you wrote “I am grateful for Cerebral Palsy,” and my heart was just completely broken open wide and a lot of sorrow and joy came out. Thank you thank you thank you. You are really inspiring me.

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 400

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Using upcoming worldwide events is the best way to raise money– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 24 PM on day 400 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, drink coffee by myself, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself scrambled eggs for breakfast–I tried to use and fork and knife I eventually got frustrated and ended up using my hands – type up a few more pages for my mother, watch TV, feed myself a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, continue typing for my mother, feed myself chicken wings for dinner and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck.

As those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know there’s nothing I don’t write about which is why you would be surprised to find out that I am a Twihard – a fan of The Twilight Saga (both the books and the movies) –that being said I would like to invite all the other Twihards out there to celebrate the upcoming release of Breaking Dawn part 1 – part 1 of the last movie in The Twilight Saga (see official trailer below) – and help me raise money to build a well in India/Africa at the same time by hosting a Twilight party – the party (if you choose to host it) will basically be you and a bunch of friends getting together to watch or rewatch the last three movies of The Twilight Saga the only difference being that everyone who comes has to bring with them a certain amount of money which you will collect and donate to my campaign at a later time – donations can be made at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nisha-varghese/nishavarghese. Do you incorporate your interests into your philanthropic endeavors?

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 399

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If something’s not working don’t keep doing it because it’s what you did yesterday– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 36 PM on day 399 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, drink coffee by myself, publish my Disability of the Day feature–I prepared it yesterday night –Facebook about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – type up three more pages for my mother, prepare my Kid of the Week feature for Sunday, prepare my Disability of the Day feature for tomorrow, tweet about my campaign –still no luck– feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV and feed myself yoghurt for dinner.

About four days ago I decided to incorporate the things I needed to learn to become independent into my life – I was no longer going to create situations to practice doing things I would practice doing them when the situations actually arose – sadly things aren’t happening quite as organically as I hoped they would – my mother always insists that I spit the toothpaste into the cup instead of in the sink so that I don’t have to struggle to lean over the sink – so I am switching back to the old method of practice practice practice while my mother is at work especially since I won’t be able to practice when we go to India in about two months time – if you have no idea what I’m talking about refer to Day 355 – why am I telling you all this to let you know that the only thing worse than doing something that doesn’t work for one day is continuing to do it for the rest of your life. Are you doing what you’re doing because it’s what you did yesterday?

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 398

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Going to church let’s you now if you’re on the right track or not – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 27 PM on day 398 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself cassava and chutney for breakfast, go to church, publish my Kid of the Week feature, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day, type up one more page for my mother – I have now earned R719 for my campaign 🙂 – feed myself chicken biryani for lunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – and feed myself yoghurt for dinner

Today while at church I heard we all have dual citizenship we are citizen of the countries we live in and citizens of the kingdom of God the reverend went on to say that we should shift our mindset from one of ownership – being possessive of our resources – to one of custodianship – acknowledging that whatever we have we have been given to use in service of God and doing as such – which resonated with me because I had felt that way from the moment I started making money of my own and acted on it by donating 25% of my first paycheck to various charities that being said I don’t believe people should nominate me for sainthood or anything of the sort I yell, I scream, I curse, in short I am just an ordinary woman who prides herself on going the extra mile. Do you know whether you’re on the right track or not?

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 397

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If people refuse to give you money make your own – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 42 PM on day 397 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself avocado, bread and scrambled eggs for breakfast, type up a few pages for my mother– see the next paragraph to know why (I am so happy I made R684 for my campaign) –publish my Disability of the Day feature–I prepared it yesterday afternoon – watch TV, feed myself yoghurt for dinner and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck today but yesterday Angie Burgess – someone I don’t even know – made a donation – thanks Angie 🙂

As you know Twitter and Facebook have been my preferred method of fundraising for my campaign but since that isn’t going as well as I’d like today I decided to make my own money – my mom needed a few pages typed and I agreed to do it if she paid me R1 for every word that I typed – and donate it to my campaign. Do you have it in your head that you can only do something one way?

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 396

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It is not you but your ego that expresses judgment – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 6: 45 PM on day 396 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, publish my Disability of the Day feature–I prepared it yesterday afternoon – listen to music, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself yoghurt for lunch, watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for dinner and watch some more TV.

This morning while searching for new ‘disabilities’ to feature on Disability of the Day I came across one tweet that was offensive to my sensibilities which I will not share for fear that I might have taken it out of context in any case my first thought when I read it was how dare she but then I realized that I had no right to judge her because I was neither superior nor inferior to her – we were equal – why I am telling you this to remind you that words like retard – which I have been guilty of using all too casually in the past (I sincerely apologize to anyone to whom that is offensive) – and jokes like I wonder what your life would have been like if you had been born with oxygen are ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. Does your ego run your life?

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 395

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If you want lasting change think of it as a lifestyle– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 23 PM on day 395 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, publish my Disability of the Day feature–I prepared it yesterday night – read Love That Sabrina: Not Very Wordless Wednesday on Love That Max, To The Author of The Anonymous Note Left On My Car Window on Special Needs Mom, Wordless Wednesday: Spotlight on Jaden on Outrageous Fortune and Wordless Wednesday: Swinging and The Power of Language on Bringing the Sunshine – they were all very good but I especially LOVED To The Author of The Anonymous Note Left On My Car Window on Special Needs Mom because it was about compassion and non-judgment not to mention it was VERY well-written 🙂 – feed myself pasta bolognaise for brunch – I used a fork and I only spilled a little I am SO happy 🙂 – listen to music, Facebook about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck today but Tony Hastings (@thetop10blog) made a donation yesterday– thanks again Tony I REALLY REALLY appreciate it :)– watch TV, feed myself an avocado sandwich, grilled chicken and yoghurt for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Today I was doing something and it occurred to me that I was doing things all wrong when it came to learning how to be independent I would carve out an hour to practice typing with both hands when I should’ve been typing with both hands throughout the day –it’s kinda like when people go on a diet they eat well and exercise for the duration of the diet after which they fall back into their old bad habits – so I’ve decided to incorporate all the things I need to learn to become more independent into my life I.e. I’m no longer going to create situations to practice doing things I will practice doing them when the situations actually arise like right now for instance I am using both my hands to type. Do you want lasting change?

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 394

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Feeling guilty about things you cannot control can destroy you – that’s what I learned today 🙁

It’s 7: 11 PM on day 394 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself banana for breakfast, cry for a while–see why in the next paragraph – publish my Disability of the Day feature–I prepared it yesterday night – Facebook about my Clean Water For All Campaign – I scheduled some tweets for Twitter last night so I decided to focus on Facebook still no luck – rest for a while – I didn’t get enough sleep last night because I was up almost until midnight scheduling tweets for Twitter– feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, feed myself yoghurt for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Today while my mother was trying to comb my sister’s hair she – my sister – said you didn’t take care of me when I was two so don’t try to take care of me now and as if to make me feel more guilty after she left for school my mother said she’s right I didn’t give her much care you were there and then Kevin was born which made me burst out into tears because I’ve always felt guilty about the fact that my sister got so little attention from my parents but now I realize that I didn’t ask to be born – yet I was – I didn’t ask to have Cerebral Palsy – yet I do – and I didn’t ask for my parents to give me more attention than they did my sister and brother – yet they did – that being said I don’t mean to trivialize the pain my siblings feel – you will NEVER hear me say I know they feel because I don’t – and I would like them to know that I’m really trying not to be an inconvenience to anyone in this house – I don’t eat or drink much, I limit my trips to the bathroom, I don’t ask to go anywhere or do anything and I only ask for help when it is absolutely necessary (honestly, do you guys think I would ask you to get the laptop for me if I could do it myself). Are you destroying yourself?

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 393

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Sometimes you’ve got to do things the hard way just to know that you can – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 28 PM on day 393 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Oats for breakfast, practice typing with both hands–I typed up a couple of basic things about myself (you will laugh when you read it I don’t mind though laughter is good for the soul) because I didn’t know what else to type (see below) –prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, watch Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management– if you’ve ever wanted to get more out of your day this video it’s humorous yet has practical tips on how to manage your time effectively– tweet and Facebook about my Clean Water For All Campaign – I’ve asked different people in different ways for donations but sadly it seems only a few of us give (excuse my language) a shit and on top of that I’ve got my mother telling me often all you have to do is lay around all day it’s just so unfair 🙁 that being said I saw another donation from Chrissy (@chrissy_bertolo) so now I’m a little happier – thanks Chrissy 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, feed myself yoghurt for dinner , watch some more TV and brush my teeth once more.

This morning I decided to work on item #3 on my Timeline to complete all the things I need to do to become physically independent list – typing with both hands – and although I was tempted to just do it with my left hand and get it over with it I powered through and kept my promise to my myself – I promised myself that I wouldn’t use my left hand unless it was absolutely necessary – and you what I’m glad I did because now I know that if I am patient with myself there’s NOTHING I can’t do and I guess that is my message to you guys the next time you have a choice between doing something the easy way or the hard way choose the hard way you’ll be amazed what you learn about yourself. Do you always do things the easy way because you have no confidence in yourself?

My name is Nisha. My surname is Varghese. I am a twenty-year-year-old from South Africa. I am AWESOME!

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 392

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Who you become is more important than what you become – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 6: 51 PM on day 392 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself bananas for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, read the latest posts on Conor’s Song, Terrible Palsy, Big Brother, Little Sister, Life and Times of a Teenager With Disabilities and Love That Max – thank you guys SO MUCH for writing these beautiful posts I REALLY enjoyed reading them 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – watch TV and feed myself yoghurt for dinner.

Last night lying in bed staring at the cream-colored walls I thought about Harry Moseley, an eleven-year-old boy who helped raised over £500,000 for cancer research before he lost his battle against brain cancer, and how he lived the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Amen) That’s a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, (Everybody) because everybody can serve. (Amen) You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. (All right) You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. (Amen) You only need a heart full of grace, (Yes, sir, Amen) a soul generated by love. (Yes) And you can be that servant. and now that a few hours have passed since I realize that that’s the kind of life I want to live I am sorry my parents view me as a disappointment because I’m taking the road less travelled but I will never apologize for following my path and becoming more of who I am. Who are you becoming?

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!