Guest Blogger Nicole Small: "The Stereotype Of Paraplegics"

Growing up I often wondered what I would become when I matured into the adult that I have become today because I never saw many people much like me in public during my child hood this could have been because of different circumstances such as that fact that I was a specific place at a certain time. I then would go back to these various places i.e. restaurants and movie theaters and still wouldn't see anyone much like me. This made me think...is it because people just find it difficult to go out into the world because of the obstacles they may face due to their specific disability or is it because of the fact that they were afraid of the looks and rejection that they would face from society? I would very much agree with the fact that people in my situation find it very difficult to be socially excepted by people in today's world. Do I fault those people who glance at me with a puzzled look upon their faces? No, because they don't know what it is like to be me. The only people who know what it is like to be a disabled person is obviously the disabled person themselves then their family and friends. Growing up I would have jumped at the chance to educate those people who were to scared to ask what was wrong with me because I feel it would have opened up a line of communication and an opportunity for them to learn something knew about someone whom they've never met before. During my childhood it was very hard to have to deal with the stares from strangers because much like them I too was trying to figure out myself. I always knew I was different from my peers because I couldn't run onto the playground during recess and I couldn't do specific activities during PE. I learned to become at peace with this because I knew I was made this way for a specific reason and it has taken me 24 yrs to figure out how the best way how to deal with what I was given because I had to deal with not only my disability  and everything that came with it but I had to deal with everyone around me who didn't know me and what I was capable of, they just saw a little girl in a wheelchair and thought I was hopeless and helpless and would stay this way for the rest of my life. I am hear to tell you to please don't believe what people think of you if they do not know anything about your personal life if they have no value in your life they their opinion or what they think of you should have no value to you and you should just brush it off and go on with your day because what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. God surrounds us with people who understand us and he also puts people in our path so we can teach them something knew and we are the only people who can fulfill that job for him. God puts people on this Earth for a reason, he has a plan for us and it may take some time for us to come to terms with what our mission in life is. I feel as though God's mission for me in life is to help other's who are like me. My challenge to all of you in this next year is to take a few minutes out of your day and reach out to someone whom you don't know that quite well and share something about yourself, it only takes one minutes to make an impression on someone and a first impression can make a world of difference on someone. Make it a positive difference and put a small upon someone's face who maybe having a difficult day even though they haven't expressed it verbally towards you.