Redefining Disabilities Project~ Post #5

It's that time again to answer another question.


#5. What are some significant moments/events in your life that connect to disability? 

This is a toughie mainly because there are so many to choose from. I haven't exactly lived a normal, humdrum life. I am, by no choice of my own, an adrenaline junkie. Well, that's not entirely true...maybe in the beginning. I choose to make a difference in whatever I'm involved in. I'll be the spear head instead of the shaft. That's my choice.

I read about an artist who was a quadriplegic. Of course I'm talking about Joni Eareckson, now Eareckson Tada, and was inspired that even with her disability she became an artist. 

Then there was Jill Kinmont, the Olympic skier, who became a
teacher despite her being paralyzed.

Who was I, a "normal" teenage with some unchangeable "disabilities." Nothing like these women faced and I could achieve my dreams also. I, like them, set out to make my own mark on life. Anything was possible with determination became my life defining, guiding star of focus.

As a teenager, I was named Junior Ambassador for the American Lung Association for Georgia. Yeah, I started early as an advocate for the underdogs in this world. Not to mention my own lung incapacitates. Who would have dreamed that later in life, I would be married to a man dying of COPD? Ironic, huh?

Later in life, I became a JRA spokesperson for the Arthritis Foundation because I had a daughter with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Another underdog situation, I was hopping mad because there was not enough public awareness or support for these kids and their families.

I wrote article after article about it leading to my first book publication. So in the beginning, my writing career was a fluke that I came to love all because of being an advocate fighting for recognition for the underdog.

Self serving? Yes, but I took it to the ultimate levels. I didn't just sit back and take it. It taught me to be proactive no matter what came in the future. That leads me to today as a stroke survivor. I write this blog which is republished through various entities worldwide. From just the emails, I've counted ten countries so far. That's just that I know about. But by going into the analytics side of this blog, it's more like 50.

Credit My new T-shirt

Roughly two-thirds of all stroke victims survive their stroke. We all want answers, news, hope, the down sides, the up sides, and the in between. I'm no different.

It's encouraging to know "I'm not he only one." That's why I talk about everything on this blog regarding my stroke. Nothing is taboo. I also don't blow smoke up your wazoo, but tells it like I see it.

Life with disabilities is no picnic. But take comfort in the fact, there's always someone worse off than you. I always say things can be worse. Just look around you. While there is life-there is hope that it will get better.

About my new T-shirt...Yes, I won. Yes, I'm paralyzed, but I'm a winner. Yes, I talk funny, but I'm a winner. Yes, I'm jobless minister, but I'm a winner. Huh? How do you figure? I see y'all scratching your heads out there and the steam coming out of your ears as you work those brain cells too hard.

I won because I'm alive to tell the story. Yes, it might take a week to write one blog, but I do it. I might have no or limited use of one side of my body, but it could be worse. I could be like Joni Eareckson Tada, with no use of both arms and legs, but look at what she has achieved! The aphasia limits me in speaking, but I still can make my point by typing and speaking. Some stroke survivors are just learning to vocalize after ten years post stroke. I'm still a minister although I'm not in the pulpit again yet. My congregation is you. The down trodden looking for hope. Hope is the one thing I can still believe in and instill in others. Where there is will and hope, nothing is impossible.

Monday Mailbox ~ How Do You Find the Time

It's Monday and time, once again, to answer your questions.

How do you find the time to write? I'm doing the best that I can raising two children, work, and go to school. I'm beat but I've tried writing my novel for five years and getting nowhere. CW

My reply...

CW, Well first off I've paid my dues by now having an empty nest, graduated college multiple times, and held several full-time jobs, some at the same time. So I don't face your type problems anymore. I face whole new time constraints. See my blog on The Schedule. I am an extremely disciplined person. Part because I had a military father and part because I have things I want to do.

I call writing my want to do thing because it is an added demand that I place on myself. For me, writing is as essential to my being as breathing. It is something I do as a coping mechanism and for personal enjoyment.

When my children were small, I knew when they would wake up so I woke up early enough to get an hour's worth of writing done. Even it was fifteen or thirty minutes, I just kept at it. Keep in mind that I had FIVE young kids and TWO full-time jobs. While I was in school, it was one full-time job, one part-time job and a full course load in school. I know it boggles your mind doesn't it?

It's all about the second line in the picture above. The WILL TO DO IT. I didn't expect to be called by a publisher for an article I wrote, but it happened. Was I up for the challenge? Nope. Would I take up the challenge or would I say, "I just don't have the time." I chose the first one which began a third career as a writer. Did I need a third career at the time? Yeah, like I needed another hole in my head.

That's one of the reasons I call myself Abby Normal. If there is sometime I choose to do- I will do it. Maybe writing your novel isn't a priority for you. Are you sure all the other things are not just excuses? How much time do you spend each day surfing the web, on Facebook and Twitter, watching television? Ah ha, you do it to decompress from all the stress in your life. Yes, I understand and I hear you.

I use my writing to decompress. I write for me and no one else but me. If someone wants to buy a copy of my books that's great. It's all about your mindset. No, I'm not throwing stones and expecting everyone be like me. They would have to be insane.

Oh, here come the men in their little white coats now! Hehehee!

Are you insane enough to be a writer too?

Keep writing and loving the Lord.