This might be the most important article I’ve ever written.
Originally, I wrote this an email to my list but I got so many heartfelt responses I simply had to make it public. At the end of the post you’ll get to see what some of my email subscribers had to say. Here goes:
There is a little girl in a wheelchair that lives in my apartment complex.
If I leave the gym at exactly 7am, I often see her waiting for the school bus with her mother. Today was one of those days.
As I walked around the corner toward my apartment, I saw the mother and daughter outside. I’m not proud of this, but my first urge was to avert my eyes and look down. To pretend they aren’t there so I don’t have to acknowledge my true feelings.
My next urge was to walk around so I didn’t have to pass by them. Another path of avoidance. Filled with feelings of guilt, fear, and discomfort I leaned into those feelings. I cocked my head up high. Opened my eyes even wider. And kept walking toward them.
Despite my best efforts to feel otherwise, I can’t help but feel a sense of guilt. Not only do I have use of all my arms and legs, but I take them for granted and don’t appreciate them.
Fear comes from the idea that I might one day end up in a wheelchair or have a child that requires one. And my discomfort is a byproduct from both these feelings and my inability to deal with them in a mature and stoic manner.
Like I said, I’m not proud of these feelings but I don’t think I’m alone on this one. As a society we often use limiting words to describe people in wheelchairs or others that are different than the rest of us.
Words like disabled, handicapped, crippled, or disadvantaged. Some people use worse words which are even more negative. Words I simply won’t write or speak.
But every single time I walk by that mother and her daughter they smile, acknowledge me, and say hello. They don’t act weird, treat me different, or scoff at my existence because I have two cable arms and legs.
When I see them, I smile as big as I can and I say hello. But I can’t help but get emotional. I get emotional for my shortcomings as a human being, my struggle to advance my sophomoric thinking, and my lack of gratitude for all the amazing gifts in my life.
Gifts are all around me and they’re all around you. First and foremost my ability (and yours) to simply get out bed each morning, place two feet on the ground, and walk to the bathroom.
My ability to walk, run, hike, exercise, and push my body to its fullest potential. My ability to speak, to listen, and to see all the beauty the world has to offer. And my ability to write this email to you today.
I’m not suffering in a prison camp like John McCain had to, fighting cancer, experiencing the horror of a terrorist attack like those in Jacksonville, and I’m not in a wheelchair.
There is so much I have to be grateful for each day. Yet, I so often take these things for granted. When I internalize all these thoughts, it reframes the situation with the little girl in the wheelchair and her mother.
I’m sure it’s not easy and I’m sure they struggle too but whenever I see them they acknowledge me, smile, and say hello — they seem happy. They seem content. And they seem grateful for everything they have.
It kind of makes me think that those of us who have everything to be grateful for, but struggle to be happy on a day-to-day basis are the disabled ones. Maybe it’s us that are handicapped.
That little girl doesn’t know it, but she is teaching me a lesson. She’s showing me how to be more comfortable with my own struggles and feelings. She’s showing me how to be gracious and kind to everyone and anyone. And she’s showing me how to be more grateful for everything I have.
Be grateful today because you never know. One day, it might be too late. But keep in mind, being grateful doesn’t mean you can’t also strive for better.
Being grateful isn’t a zero sum game You CAN be grateful and be ambitious simultaneously. And it’s okay.
There is no link or pitch today, just a challenge:
I challenge you to identify ONE thing today that you normally take for granted and be grateful for it. Thank god, the universe, or whoever and whatever you believe in for that gift. Then post in the comments below and tell me what it is.
Here are a few responses from my readers to inspire you and get you started:
