Tag Archives: special needs

Day 970: 2013 Reading List

“Do your bit to save humanity from lapsing back into barbarity by reading all the novels you can.” — Richard Hughes

It’s 6 : 16 PM on day 970 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Numbers 23, publish my Disability of the Day feature, stretch my hamstrings, take off my dirty t-shirt and put on a clean one, put on a hoodie – it took me an hour but I’m so proud of myself I didn’t quit and ask someone to help me 🙂 – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself All Bran Flakes and a boiled egg for breakfast, practice typing with both hands, feed myself stir fry for lunch, make sandwiches as part of Virginia’s Sandwich Run with the help of my brother and our housekeeper and go to physiotherapy.

As you may know I love reading and sharing so today I’m going to share with you the books I want to read (or finish reading) by the end of this year in the hopes that you too will switch off all the distractions in your life and start reading. Take a look:

2013 Reading List

I got this book as a gift about two years ago I just never got around to finishing it hopefully I can find it.

I heard so many great things about this book I want to read it and find out what the fuss is all about.

I have heard people quote fascinating facts from this book on numerous occasions I want to see if the whole book is as fascinating as the few facts people keep quoting.

I’ve wanted to read this book ever since I heard about it, it just seems to be a fantastic true life story about how one human being can change the life of another.

Day 969: Accepting my struggles

Leave a reply

You’ve got to accept your struggles knowing that they are preparing you for something greater in life – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 2 : 34 PM on day 969 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, publish my Disability of the Day feature, stretch my hamstrings, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself baked beans sandwich for breakfast, take off my dirty t-shirt and put on a clean one, practice typing with both hands, pray and read Numbers 22.

This morning I was having another one of those this-is-so-unfair days sometimes I can’t help but think of the people who smoke, drink and engage in risky behaviours and wake up the next morning feeling absolutely fine meanwhile people like me who don’t smoke, drink or engage in risky behaviours have to struggle every day to do the most basic things it all seems just a little unfair but you know what this is the life I’ve been given and I’m going to do the best I can with it. Do you accept your struggles knowing that they are preparing you for something greater in life?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 968: Finding my voice

Leave a reply

People may not be able to see the real me when they first meet me but through this blog they are able to hear me– that’s what I realized today 🙂

It’s 3 : 10 PM on day 968 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, publish my Disability of the Day feature, pray, read Numbers 21, take off my dirty t-shirt and put on a clean one – it took me over eight minutes to change my t-shirt I wonder how many minutes of my life will be spent just changing – stretch my hamstrings, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, practice typing with both hands and work.

Today I realized people may not be able to see the real me when they first meet me but through this blog they are able to hear me I’ve had people who’ve known me since I was a child say to me I just read your blog I see a completely different side to you and at first I didn’t know whether I should be flattered or offended but now I understand why they said that when people see me in person the wheelchair is the thing that stands out and most people sort of get stuck on that without realizing that there is so much more to me than that but when they read this blog they don’t see my legs that don’t work or the constantly bent fingers of my right hand all the see is me who I am on the inside. Have you found that thing through which you can express yourself without even trying?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 967: God works in mysterious ways

4 Replies

God works in mysterious ways – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 1 : 47 PM on day 967 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Numbers 20, publish my Disability of the Day feature, take off my dirty t-shirt and put on a clean one, stretch my hamstrings, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, practice typing with both hands, read Project Hope on Chasing Rainbows and listen to music – I love the song Mirrors by Justin Timberlake it’s so sweet the song is actually dedicated to his grandparents and you could really tell because there was so much thought that was put into every single frame of that music video.

Today after reading Project Hope on Chasing Rainbows any shred of doubt I had about the existence of a higher power has disappeared to find out your pregnant a day after the death of your child if that isn’t the work of God I don’t know what is. Congratulations Kate and Ed I will be praying that all goes well.

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 966: Rolling with the punches

Leave a reply

Roll with the punches – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 3 : 04 PM on day 966 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, stretch my hamstrings, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both hands, pray and read Numbers 19.

A couple of days ago I tried to make a donation to my campaign on my mom’s behalf and I received a message that read something along the lines of AVS failure my heart sank and I apologized profusely to my mom thinking that I somehow caused the error but last night someone told me he encountered the same error after making his donation which is why I have decided not to promote my campaign until the technical problem is sorted out God forbid people lose their hard earned money trying to help me out I couldn’t live with that. Do you roll with the punches or whine about how things don’t go your way?

(Update: a staff member of Not For Sale got in touch with me to tell me that she changed the settings on my fundraising page so both U.S and international donors shouldn’t see an AVS error after making a donation please notify me through Facebook, Twitter or email if you see AVS Error after making a donation)

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 965: Turning pain into purpose

Leave a reply

When you use your struggles to help others pain turns into purpose – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 3 : 24 PM on day 965 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself sweet potatoes with yogurt for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, pray, read Numbers 18, practice typing with both hands and practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles.

Today I woke up to read this question from Anchel Krishna who blogs at Today’s Parent What does it feel like? Specifically I am wondering does it ever feel frustrating because your mind is telling your body or body part to take a specific action but your body just won’t cooperate? Or does it feel differently than that? to which I replied in part yes it’s hugely frustrating you move to do something but somewhere along the line it’s like your brain misinterprets your message. it’s great that I can speak for kids who are in the same position I was in growing up it makes me feel like there’s a purpose for me having Cerebral Palsy. Have you turned your pain into purpose?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 964: Cerebral Palsy and the importance of calcium

Leave a reply

I should be more careful about what I eat and don’t eat– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 2 : 43 PM on day 964 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself bread and boiled egg for breakfast, go to the doctor, publish my Disability of the Day feature and feed myself pasta and chicken curry for lunch.

This morning I went to the doctor complaining of back pain and trouble urinating (I thought I had some sort of issues with my kidneys or something this is why you shouldn’t Google your symptoms) after he examined me he told me I had bone pain and proceeded to lecture me about the importance of calcium in my diet apparently because I move less than the average person my bones are weaker and my muscles are more likely to waste away faster so he put me on a multivitamin, a calcium supplement and painkillers and told me to eat well and drink plenty of water I suppose I should be grateful that there’s nothing seriously wrong with me but I can’t help feeling a little embarrassed I always seem to make mountains out of molehills when it comes to my health.

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 963: Never give up on what you believe in

Leave a reply

Never give up – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 3 : 59 PM on day 963 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, stretch my hamstrings, feed myself Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both hands, tweet and Facebook about my campaign, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself pasta and beans for lunch and make sandwiches as part of Virginia’s Sandwich Run with our housekeeper’s help.

Today I spent some time tweeting and Facebooking about my campaign unfortunately I don’t have much to show for it with 73 days left to the close of my campaign I’m still stuck on 11% but I’m not giving up because I believe everybody should be free to change the world in their own way. Do you give up too easily on the things that you believe in?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 962: Self-education

Leave a reply

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. – Jim Rohn

It’s 3 : 18 PM on day 962 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, stretch my hamstrings, feed myself Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both hands, take off my dirty t-shirt and put on a clean one, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, pray, read Numbers 15 and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – no luck so far today but two donations were made in the last couple of days (one from Anonymous of $25 and another from Catherine (@catvoncat) of $25) thank you so much guys thanks to your generous contributions I only need to raise $888 more in 74 days to reach my goal.

This morning I needed to learn how to do something I didn’t know how to do so you know what I did I logged onto YouTube, searched for what I needed to learn and within ten minutes I knew how to do something I didn’t know how to do before I often hear people say (on the news and elsewhere) I’m unemployed because I wasn’t skilled to all those people I say it’s your job to skill yourself there’s almost nothing that you don’t know that you can’t learn you just have to have the desire to learn everything I know about most things is self-taught and sure sometimes I screwed up royally but I learned from my mistakes and tried again. Do you rely solely on your formal education to get you through this life or do you supplement your formal education with self-education?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 961:Thulani Madondo CNN Hero Nominee

Leave a reply

Small things can make a huge difference – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 4 : 29 PM on day 961 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself bread and boiled egg for breakfast, pray, read Numbers 14 and publish my Disability of the Day feature.

Today I came across the story of a man who despite not going to university helps educate the kids in his township. Watch Thulani Madondo’s extraordinary story below (this guy makes me proud to be a South African):

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.