Each and every day I wake up ready to face society as my mom comes in my room and says, ”Good morning‘.
I wonder, “what will today bring for me?” as I sit down in the chair.
If you didn’t know me and saw me in the chair with wheels as a reflection of who I am on the outside, you probably would think I live a life full of hardships and challenges. And you’re right. I do.
A life with Cerebral Palsy is all I’ve ever know for the time I was born, only weighing 2 lbs. 3 oz., fighting for my life, since I died at birth for a second and came back; since God had other plans for me, which included being able to see the world in a different light.
I reached each milestone with determination; getting my first wheelchair at 5 years old; going to mainstream school at 6; being able to be in regular classes.
There are so many things that I had been able to do, thanks to my parents who always made it a point for me to see the world and be able to have the experiences that I do have as young women with Cerebral Palsy. My favorite places to travel are North Carolina and Tennessee because I love the country and everything about it.
Yes, with Cerebral Palsy I do have challenges, but I don’t allow them to stop me from seeing the world.
My favorite thing about traveling is getting to meet new people and educate them about Cerebral Palsy; How I stomp on the barriers in my way because of the misconceptions that society has when it comes to people like me.
They think, “oh, we can’t enjoy life and travel the world”, when they actually can. We just have to adapt to what we have around us, and that’s the main key that people miss: we adapt to things, but we don’t let them stop us from traveling.
So, I do I see the world as someone with Cerebral Palsy.
I see it as an adventurous journey each and every day with many stories to tell, so I love my life and the experiences it has. At the end of the day, I am blessed having Cerebral Palsy. It is just a condition, and a wheelchair is just a chair; it doesn’t define you or me, and it shouldn’t stop you from seeing the world. You’re in control of your life and the experiences that come your way.
Although you may have the obstacles in your life, you just have to keep stomping on them and keep going through them, because everyone has a purpose in life, and everyone has their own unique way of viewing the world. Life is truly how you make it, so you have to make it rock!
Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash
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