On Making it Living With a Disability

As I travel the country and world, the people I meet who are living with (and without) disabilities and “making it” are those that have three key attributes: First, they have an undying belief in themselves; in who they are. Like the Buddhists who ‘know’ they are sitting, walking or eating, these folks ‘know’ where they fit in the grand scheme. They pay no attention to the assumed limitations and restrictions placed on them by others. They blaze new trails, changing attitudes along the way. Second, they seem to have a great support system in family and/or friends; people with and without disabilities who see them for who they are. Third, they have an indefatigable (I’ve been wanting to use that word in a sentence for years) and bodacious sense of humor. They see their disabilities for what they truly are: a part of life; of the human experience and, therefore, subject to the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”.As I have said, for me, some of my funniest experiences have been directly related to my disability and that, quite often, it has had to do with someone else taking my disability far more seriously than I (my acute care doctor for instance). Now there’s a funny story ...To laugh is to survive...