Tag Archives: special needs

Day 1102: Valuing one’s body

God only gives each of us one body we have to take care of it – that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12 : 10 PM on day 1102 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and All Bran Flakes for breakfast, pray, read 2 Samuel 5, publish my Disability of the Day feature, spend time outside by myself, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, stretch my hamstrings and tweet and Facebook about my campaign -I asked Jia Jiang who gave the talk Surprising Lessons From 100 Days of Rejection if he could check out my campaign hopefully he won’t reject me LOL but I’ll be okay even if he does 🙂

Last night I realized despite being relentlessly teased about my super healthy eating habits I’m doing the right thing by taking care of my body because for the rest of my life I will only have this body. Are you taking care of the body you’ve been given?

Day 1101: Global Peace Day

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“Peace is possible.” – Mattie J.T. Stepanek

It’s 12 : 28 PM on day 1101 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and All Bran Flakes for breakfast, pray, read 2 Samuel 4, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -nobody donated so far today – spend time outside by myself and practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles.

Yesterday I read A Post About Peace – a blog post on The Conscious Perspective about peace and Global Peace Day which is happening on September 21^st – I love the whole idea of one day where there is less violence and hate and more love I wish it was like that every day but everything has to start somewhere I think half the world’s problems could be solved if world leaders would just sit down and talk to each other violence really is not necessary. Visit Peace One Day to find out how you can support Global Peace Day.

Day 1100: What I learned from Have A Little Faith

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Faith is believing in something greater than yourself and coming back to that belief every time you stray – that’s what I learned yesterday.

It’s 12 : 38 PM on day 1100 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and All Bran Flakes for breakfast, read 2 Samuel 3, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -nobody donated so far today but Shasta over at Outrageous Fortune donated $20 yesterday (thanks again Shasta) which brings my total to $1 020 with 28 days to go :)– spend time outside by myself – every time I’m out in nature I’m overwhelmed by this sense of gratitude a lot of people who were on this planet yesterday are not here today and yet here I am I have one more day to live and to laugh and to make a difference – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings – something is up with my right leg just doing simple stretches hurt like crazy maybe I’m still feeling the aftereffects of my foot infection.

Last night after reading Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom – a book about what author Mitch Albom learned about faith from rabbi Albert Lewis and pastor Henry Covington – I realized faith is believing in something greater than yourself and coming back to that belief every time you stray. Do you stray from God and go back every time?

Day 1099: Living your dreams every day

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Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today. – James Dean

It’s 1 : 00 PM on day 1099 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and All Bran Flakes for breakfast, pray, read 2 Samuel 2, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign – I didn’t surpass my goal so far today either – spend time outside by myself – I love people I really do but I love spending time by myself even more sometimes I don’t want to be stared at or answer questions about Cerebral Palsy I just want to be and nature is the only place where I can do that the birds don’t even notice me they just fly around minding their own business I love that 🙂 – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings.

Last night after watching clips of The Buried Life – a reality show about four friends who are crossing things off their bucket list – I asked myself what do I want to do before I die and to my surprise I’d done almost everything I wanted to do with the notable exception of going to Paris and becoming completely independent I wanted to raise enough money to build a well somewhere in the world (I did that), I wanted to raise money for the World Food Programme (I did that), I wanted to raise money for Nothing But Nets (I did that), I wanted to raise money to plant trees (I did that), I wanted to raise money to end child slavery (I’m doing that I’ve reached my fundraising goal now I’m looking to surpass it) and I wanted to spend more time outside enjoying the sunshine (I do that as often as possible). Are you dreaming as if you’ll live forever and living as if you’ll die today?

Day 1098: Surprising Lessons From 100 Days of Rejection: Jia Jiang

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Rejection is just a number and once you reach that number a no will become a yes and you’ll become much better for it. – Jia Jiang

It’s 3 : 37 PM on day 1098 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 2 Samuel 1, publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, feed myself Bran Flakes and peanut butter for breakfast,tweet and Facebook about my campaign – I didn’t surpass my goal so far today – go visit my granny in rehab and have lunch with family – I’ve never eaten by myself at someone else’s house (somebody always fed me because it was more convenient that way) but today I insisted upon it when I go out I represent not only myself but also all differently-abled people I want to show the general population that differently-abled people can do more things than they can’t and besides there will be a time when my parents won’t be around to do things for me I must prepare for that.

Two days ago I watched Surprising Lessons From 100 Days of Rejection: Jia Jiang at TEDxAustin – a Ted Talk by Jia Jiang who goes in search of rejection for 100 days after his business idea gets rejected – I could relate to Jia’s experience to-date 15 244 people have visited my anti-slavery campaign’s fundraising page of which only 27 people have donated (thank you to those 27 people) which means I have been rejected exactly 15 217 times and in my effort to surpass my fundraising goal I know I will continue to be rejected but I will continue asking for donations because I know that you’ll miss a 100% of the shots you don’t take. Watch Surprising Lessons From 100 Days of Rejection: Jia Jiang at TEDxAustin below:

Day 1097: Meet extraordinary X-Factor USA contestant Rion Paige

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EVERYBODY has something to contribute to the world – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 12 : 39 PM on day 1097 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read 1 Samuel 31, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself a boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – I didn’t surpass my goal so far today but i’ll keep trying until the second my campaign ends

Yesterday I stumbled across Rion Paige – Judges are “Blown Away” – THE X FACTOR USA 2013 – a video of 13-year-old Rion Paige’s X FACTOR USA 2013 audition – I was BLOWN AWAY by Rion and her voice Rion is almost permanently blind in her right eye and has arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a condition which causes the joints in her hands to curve, but when she starts to sing you don’t see any of that all you see is a beautiful, talented girl. Watch Rion Paige – Judges are “Blown Away” – THE X FACTOR USA 2013 below:

Day 1096: Put others before yourself

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Put others before yourself– that’s what Cerebral Palsy is teaching me 🙂

It’s 1 : 25 PM on day 1096 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Samuel 30, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself a boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, tweet about my campaign – I didn’t surpass my goal so far today but i’ll keep trying 🙂 – take off my dirty turtleneck and t-shirt and put on a clean t-shirt and hoodie – you might be wondering why I mention doing “simple things” like taking off my turtleneck it’s because things like that are the hardest things to do when you have Cerebral Palsy I am so proud of myself every time I manage to change by myself it’s actually ridiculous – and get my hair washed.

This morning I woke up needing to go to the bathroom but I saw that everybody was still sleeping so I decided to wait does it suck that I have to do things on everybody else’s schedule of course it does but I’m willing to wait because I know that the world doesn’t revolve around me so often in life we become so self-centred that we forget that other people have needs too. Are you learning to put others before yourself?

Day 1095:God only gives special children to special people?

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There are no “special children” or “special parents” we are all people with challenges some people’s challenges are just more visible than those of others – that’s what I wish the world would understand.

It’s 12 : 19 PM on day 1095 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself a boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, read 1 Samuel 29, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign – I didn’t surpass my goal so far today but i’m going to keep trying until October 15 the Not For Sale Campaign does such great work rescuing and empowering victims of human trafficking the least I can do is do everything I can to help them 🙂 – and chat to a friend on Skype – technology today is so amazing you can speak face-to-face with someone who’s half-way across the world which can be a good or bad thing depending on whether you’re trying to stay close to the person or get away from the person lol 🙂

A few days ago I read Mystery Customer Picks Up Tab, Leaves Inspiring Note For Parents Of Special Needs Child – an article about someone who picked up the tab for a “special needs” family and left a note which read God only gives special children to special people – what that person did was nice no question about it but I don’t believe God only gives special children to special people because I don’t believe there are any “special children” or “special parents” we are all people with challenges some people’s challenges are just more visible than those of others. Do you see everyone as your equal because you understand that we are all people with challenges?

Day 1094: Push yourself

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Set goals, achieve them and push yourself to see how much further you can go– that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 12 : 36 PM on day 1094 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Samuel 28, feed myself a boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign – today I was mostly sending thank you messages I will never get over how generous some people are everybody from my 13-year-old brother to my friends in Australia pitched in to help me reach my goal they inspire me to be more generous in my own life I will be forever grateful – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, stretch my hamstrings -my right leg hurt like hell it must be because of the cold (when it’s cold the muscles in my lower limbs get tighter than usual) on the bright side at least I can feel pain in my lower limbs there are a lot of people who can’t – and listen to music – I love The Script their lyrics have such meaning which is rare in this day and age.

As you may know I reached my anti-slavery campaign goal yesterday (thank you to everyone who donated and helped spread the word) I could close the page down right now and call it a day but I’ve decided to keep the page open until 15 October 2013 let’s see how much more money we can raise for the Not For Sale Campaign in the next 34 days. Are you satisfied with where you are and what you’ve accomplished or are you constantly pushing yourself to see how much further you can go?

My thoughts and prayers are with all those who were (and are) affected by the 9/11 attacks.

Day 1093: There are good people out there

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There are good people out there – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 12 : 04 PM on day 1093 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Samuel 27, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself Bran Flakes for breakfast, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -nobody donated so far today either but I not giving up I think God is trying to teach me patience by making me wait (Update: I just saw that my friend Marie Ang donated $70 (thanks Marie) so I’ve officially reached my goal 🙂 – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings.

Yesterday I read Syria: western activists volunteer to become ‘human shields’ – it’s an article about how hundreds of western peace activists have volunteered to become “human shields” in government-held parts of Syria – I was blown away that people would lay their lives on the line for people they didn’t know just goes to show there are good people out there.