I’m feeling better, at least emotionally, than I did during the last few posts.  Thanks to all for putting up with me, and showing me such great compassion.

(I have been in touch with my GYN to see about going back on the pill to see if it will help…we’ll see.)

Now, on to Inspiration.

I saw this beautiful poster on someone’s blog…sorry I can’t remember where.  So I wrote to the University of New Hampshire to see if they would mind of I printed it here.  They were so nice, and gave me their consent.

The University of New Hampshire has an Institute on Disability, this poster comes from there.  They have a lot of great resources, especially if you life in New Hampshire, but even if you don’t, it’s a good place to check out.

The quote by Neil Marcus touched me,

‘Disability is not a “Brave Struggle” or “Courage in the Face of Adversity”.  Disability is an Art.  It’s an ingenious way to live.’

How many of us feel this way?

How many times have you been told how brave you are?  How much courage you have?  Do we have a choice?

But the part that really touched me was “Disability is an Art”  –  Who would ever think that?  “It’s an ingenious way to live.”  Wow! what a statement!

Take the time to really think about that.  We are disabled, we are art.  We have an ingenious way to live.

How many people, including ourselves some times, pity us?  Think that we can’t live a fulfilled life?  This simply is not true.  Remember, we are a work of Art!  We have a life no one else does, but it’s ours.  It’s up to us to make the most of it.  Our life may not be what we expected, but it’s ours, and we have a choice on how to live it.

Another quote I saw recently:

“Have respect for yourself, and patience and compassion. With these, you can handle anything.” ~Jack Kornfield

I want to talk about more than just respect, patience, and compassion for ourselves, I want to talk about showing these to everyone.

My husband and I have talked a lot about how people just don’t seem to respect one another.  Just imagine, if we showed respect to everyone we met, and they showed respect to you.  This simple show of respect could over come nearly every obstacle.  No more road rage, no more bullying, no more yelling at customer service, no more wars (yes, I know that’s a big one, but if everyone respected one another, would there really be wars?)

Even when we respect other’s we often forget to respect ourselves.  To show patience and compassion to ourselves.  My doctors and friends have told me, many times, to “Give yourself a break.”  Finally I listened, and life isn’t as hard any more.  I don’t have to do everything.  I can ask for help.  I don’t have to feel guilty because I can’t do something.  I can handle anything.  The key word there is “handle”, no I may not be able to do everything by myself, but I can find a way to handle the situation.

Look at some of the things I can do:  I can make my husband smile, I can create a work of art, I can appreciate the world around me…I notice more now because I’m not in such a hurry.  I don’t get impatient if I have to wait at the store.  I realize that the person who is trying to help, usually isn’t the one at fault.  I notice all the people who keep our infrastructure running, people we just don’t pay that much attention to.  Like the sanitation crew…they work hard, in the heat, cold, rain, snow…. but do they get appreciated?  Usually, people just get annoyed with them because they have to drive around them, or they get mad because they were late picking up their garbage.  Our mail carrier, our pest control person, the road maintenance crew…they are working hard to keep our lives running smoothly…and often they are not respected, or appreciated.

The season of showing thanks and appreciation is fast approaching, but shouldn’t we be doing this all year-long?  A note on my garbage can saying, I appreciate you!  Can you imagine how much that would surprise someone?  I always wave at the road maintenance crew, and they always look surprised.  Once after a big storm that knocked out a lot of the power lines, I took out drinks and snacks for the crew in front of our house, just a little something to tell them, I appreciate you.  A soldier in an elevator, I simply said thank you, and I saw his face light up.

I’ve recently received cards, and gifts from people I’ve never met.  A thank you card for sending someone a cook book, that I was giving away.  A set of Walkie Talkies and a card from someone, just because I needed help, and they had something I could use.  A card from a friend who went to Disney World, simply because she knows I love Mickey.  And most recently a box of goodies from a fellow blogger, just to help me…and to show she was thinking of me.  these people will never know just how much these things have meant to me.  How they touched me at a time, I really needed it.  All of these things came from people I’ve only come to know through blogging.  What a wondrous time we live in, that I can make friends all over the world through this little box sitting on my lap.

When things seem their worst, and I want to just give up,  I realize just how many people are pulling for me.  How many people, look beyond my disability and appreciate me.

At times I forget these things.  The fear envelopes me, the guilt strangles me…but the love, respect, patience, and compassion that I have received from others makes me realize, I must give these to myself as well.  They nurture me, teach me to take better care of myself, give myself a break, and stand up for myself.  It proves to me that I am a work of ART!  My life is ingenious!

My point, that may have been lost somewhere in there:

Take the time to think if you showing yourself the respect, patience and compassion you are entitled to.  If not, make a conscious effort to be better about it.

I know I am.