Today I spent the day in a wheelchair. I have had the privilege of getting to know the employees at Hope Haven, but I will never fully understand the struggles they face daily. So I figured the best way to understand just a little was to experience it for myself.
It was interesting, not what I thought it would be. It’s funny, I expected to struggle physically. I expected to get frustrated with not being able to get around as quickly or do things I could normally do. But the thing that got me the most was how small I felt. I never realized how awkward it felt to be looked down to when being spoken to. Not looked down on, but looked down at… get it? I never realized how much it meant to look someone eye to eye and feel equal. I wasn’t treated differently, but somehow in my head it all felt different. But it made me realize the importance of simple things, like kneeling down when I am speaking. Getting eye to eye, level, equal.
I am thankful for my day in a wheelchair. It helped me to have a new perspective. Helped to me understand my new friends a little better, and I feel like it even helped me to connect with them on a deeper level than I had before. I got warmer greetings from those I’ve gotten to know, and bigger smiles from ones who were more reserved at first.
I don’t feel sorry for them… I respect them and I look up to them. Sometimes we look at them as living without (and quite honestly that is how I felt when I was restricted), but in actuality they are living with. Take Paulina for example. She is a beautiful woman, inside and out. She doesn’t talk a lot, but get her on the topic of her husband and she can talk till the sun goes down. She is so joyful and in love, it is beautiful. I have never heard her complain, and she is never without a smile. She is an inspiration.
Or Dionel, he is in a wheelchair but that doesn’t keep him from playing basketball. He is amazing! He plays for the National team and will be going to Mexico next month for a tournament. I try to compete with him, but there’s no hope, he’s got skills
!
("D" taking the shot)
Sometimes I forget how much I have to be thankful for and joyful about, seems like I’m the one who is living without.
Thank You GOD for perspective. Thank You for new friends. Thank You for this life and this journey You have given me.
