7 Lessons Cerebral Palsy Has Taught Me

They say life is what you make of it; I can’t agree more. We can easily let our struggles control our life. I live with a disability by the name of cerebral palsy. I admit it’s not easy, and it can be easy to just focus on the negative aspects of life with it. By doing so I believe it will just make things worse. I have learned that it helps to have a positive attitude.

I believe CP has helped me see life differently. It has taught me some things.

1. Be compassionate. Since I am very aware of how it is to struggle physically, I believe I have compassion for other people struggling physically.

2. Enjoy the simple things in life. My disability prevents me or makes it difficult for me to enjoy certain activities. I came to terms with it by enjoying what I’m able to enjoy.

3. Be creative in doing tasks. I can’t do most tasks in the traditional way. I have to come up with a new way to perform them.

4. Be stubborn, or better yet determined. It can be easy to get discouraged when I have difficulty accomplishing something, but I either have the choice to be defeated by it or continue pushing until I succeed.

5. Pity is useless. Throughout my life I have received pity from people because of my disability. It only made me feel like something was wrong with me.

6. Content of character is more valuable than physical content. Most people see my disability first, instead of the person I am. Because of this I have learned to not make assumptions about a person based on their physical characteristics.

7. Have resilience. Life with a disability can be challenging in many ways, but one gets used to it. I believe this has helped me to have resilience for other challenges.

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