Tag Archives: special needs

Day 1040: What I learned from The Real Rain Man

All of us have things we can do and things we can’t do none of us are disabled, special needs or handicapped – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 1 : 50 PM on day 1040 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, read Joshua 23, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -Vincent Ang made a $100 donation on behalf of his business OArtTee (Thanks again Vincent). OArtTee is the website for you if you are an original artist they will transform the way the world sees YOU and your ART. – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings – thanks to the good weather I was able to actually stretch out my hamstrings (thank you God for the sunshine and warmth my legs appreciate it).

Two days ago watching The Real Rain Man – a documentary about Kim Peek arguably the world’s most famous savant and the inspiration behind the Oscar-winning film, Rain Man – I realized all of us have things we can do and things we can’t do none of us are disabled, special needs or handicapped Kim has an incredible memory and knows things that most of us do not but he relies on his father to take care of his physical needs the general population might label Kim disabled, special needs or handicapped but the way I look at it Kim is just like any other human being we all have things we can and can’t do. Watch The Real Rain Man below:

Day 1039: Mandela Day 2013

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“A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” ― Nelson Mandela

It’s 1 : 43 PM on day 1039 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, make sandwiches -(more about that in the next paragraph)- read Joshua 22, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, stretch my hamstrings and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – no one donated so far today.

Today in honour of Mandela Day our housekeeper, Nikiwe, and I made sandwiches for the kids in her neighbourhood we do this every week but doing it today on Nelson Mandela’s 95^th birthday felt extra special Nelson Mandela has done so much for this country and the world spending some time making sandwiches was the least I could do. See pictures below (special thanks to sisi (Xhosa word for sister) Nikiwe for helping me make the sandwiches and taking the pictures):

Happy Birthday Madiba we LOVE you!

Day 1038: Instructions for a Bad Day by Shane Koyczan

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Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth. – Samuel Johnson

It’s 1 : 14 PM on day 1038 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, read Joshua 21, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, stretch my hamstrings -my legs were so stiff today probably because of the cold weather when it’s cold my legs don’t cooperate at all oh well hopefully tomorrow will be a better day – tweet and Facebook about my campaign – no one donated so far today but yesterday Ranee (@nay731) and Teresa (@Teresa623) put their money together and donated $40 (thanks again Renee and Teresa your contribution means so much to me together we are playing a small part in ending modern-day slavery) now I only need to raise $350 more in 90 days to reach my goal 🙂 – and practice typing with both hands.

Yesterday I heard Instructions for a Bad Day –a poem by Shane Koyczan – on Poetry For People Who Need It Most – a blog post on Whispers of a Barefoot Medical Student about what happens during a psychiatry rotation – I loved the poem so much I thought it was worth sharing. Listen to it below I guarantee it will lift you up whenever you’re feeling down:

Day 1037: Being the person you want other people to be

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Be the person you want other people to be – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 1 : 34 PM on day 1037 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, try to clean myself in the bathroom, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, read Joshua 20, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, take off my dirty jacket and t-shirt and put on a clean t-shirt – I have a good mind to start my own fashion label called Accessible Fashions none of the clothes would have buttons or zips (it’s difficult for me to unbutton, button and zip up) and the sleeves would be wider it would save me a lot of time, effort and energy that’s for sure – stretch my hamstrings, get my hair washed – our housekeeper is a godsend she does stuff for me that I cannot yet do for myself although now that I think about it I’ve never actually tried to wash my hair by myself I’m sure I could if I tried I have full use of my left hand and partial use of my right hand all I would need to do is attach some sort of extension that would get the water from the sink’s tap to my head -and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – no one donated so far today still $390 more to raise.

Last night reading Being the Adult I Want my Children to Become – a blog post on Emma’s Hope Book about being the adult you want the children in your life to become – I realized I should set expectations for others that I myself can meet and understand that we are all trying our bests to be our bests I want the people in my life to be kind, compassionate, giving and forgiving am I all of those things all of the time absolutely not. Are you the person you want other people to be?

Day 1036:Does writing down goals really work?

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“Life is hard. It is particularly difficult when you aren’t seeing progress. You feel like you are working yourself to death, going nowhere. But written goals are like mile-markers on a highway. They enable you to see how far you have come and how far you need to go. They also provide an opportunity for celebration when you attain them.” – Michael Hyatt, 5 Reasons Why You Should Commit Your Goals to Writing

It’s 2 : 20 PM on day 1036 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself All Bran Flakes and a boiled egg for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, read Joshua 19, and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – still no luck (Update: Shortly after I published this post I found out that Michael Carr (@USMMariner) donate $50 (thank you SO MUCH Michael) now I only need to raise $390 more to reach my goal – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings – I feel a slight burning in the back of my right knee I hope to God I didn’t pull anything.

Two days ago I went back and looked at my 2013 To-Do List – my goals for 2013 – and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had either achieved or was in the process of achieving most of the goals I set at the beginning of the year so to all those who are wondering does writing down goals really work I say yes it does. Has writing your goals down helped you achieve them?

Day 1035: The right way to motivate

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You motivate people by building them up not by tearing them down–that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 2 : 28 PM on day 1035 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, go with my parents to drop my sister at the airport – she went back to university winter break ends today I’m always a bit sad when she leaves what makes it worse is people saying stuff like don’t be sad he’ll back soon like I’m this pitiful human being who has no life when my sister’s away hello I’m 22 with or without the use of my legs I have my own interests, hopes and dreams – publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, try to clean myself in the bathroom, pray, read Joshua 18, and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – still no luck.

This morning something happened that made me realize you motivate people by building them up not by tearing them down some people just tear others down thinking it will motivate them to do better only the people they’re trying to motivate just end up feeling bad about themselves. Do you motivate people by building them up or tearing them down?

Day 1034: Being brave

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Sometimes bravery is knowing what’s going to happen and doing it anyway–that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 12 : 10 PM on day 1034 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to publish my Disability of the Day feature,sleep – I only went to bed after midnight – brush my teeth, pray, feed myself a boiled egg and All Bran Flakes for breakfast, read Joshua 17, try to clean myself in the bathroom, listen to music and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – still no luck

In recent days my parents have been talking about all of us going to India for the December holidays at first I was dead set against it because I knew that I didn’t have to go to a country and put up with people treating me like I’m not a person when I’m treated perfectly well here but now if my parents insist that we go I will be brave and I will go knowing that there’s nothing wrong with me regardless of what anybody says. Have you ever done something knowing it was going to end badly?

Day 1032: Finding balance

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In life balance is the hardest thing to find –that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12 : 11 PM on day 1032 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to publish my Disability of the Day feature, sleep – I only went to bed after midnight – stretch my hamstrings, brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and All Bran Flakes for breakfast, pray, read Joshua 15, tweet and Facebook about my campaign – nobody donated so far today but no worries I still have 96 days to raise $440 – and listen to music – I love Ed Sheeran‘s album, +, his songs are so so sincere and I love that he sings with such passion if you’re not going to do everything you do with your whole heart what’s the point.

Last night laying in bed I realized that not being able to do anything half way is both my greatest strength and greatest weakness I give my all to everything I do I either eat super healthy or super unhealthy, I exercise properly or not at all and if I make up my mind to do something I will do it until I get it done there is just no middle ground with me hopefully as I grow I will find balance in every aspect of life. Have you found balance in every aspect of your life?

Day 1031: Silver Linings Playbook on the Power of Perception

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“You have to do everything you can. You have to work your hardest. If you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining.” – Pat, Silver Linings Playbook

It’s 4 : 00 PM on day 1031 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to stretch my hamstrings, try to clean myself in the bathroom, brush my teeth, take off my dirty turtleneck and t-shirt and put a clean t-shirt and hoodie on, feed myself Idli, chutney and Sambar for breakfast, pray, read Joshua 14, publish my Disability of the Day feature, spend some time with my family – my dad came back from a two week trip to India we were hoping to see pictures of family back in India unfortunately most of the pictures were of my father’S feet LOL 🙂 – and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – Heidi Oran of The Conscious Perspective donated $10 AND wrote a blog post about my campaign (thank you for your support Heidi).

Yesterday evening my brother, sister and I were watching Silver Linings Playbook – a movie about Pat who gets out of a mental institution determined to get his old life back – early on in the movie Pat says if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining I have found that to be true in my own life there are no good or bad situations there are just situations it’s up to you how you choose to see them. Do you stay positive and look for the silver lining in every situation?