Day 614

Perseverance is the greatest thing you can teach a child – that’s what I learned today :)

It’s 5 : 11 PM on day 614 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,   feed myself scrambled eggs and a slice of bread  for breakfast with a fork and knife – I am SO PROUD of myself :) –  drink Green Tea  by myself,  publish my Disability of the Day feature,  watch my brother practice making an origami box and feed myself Greek yogurt for lunch

This morning my brother was practicing making an origami box so that he could do it properly in class on Monday and every time he got frustrated I would say don’t give up you can do this I know you can eventually after a few tries he did do it I was (and am) so proud that he kept going even when he felt like quitting I hope I have taught him that you can’t fail unless you quit. Do you grab every opportunity to teach the children in your life perseverance?

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Day 613

Some decisions have to be made every day– that’s what I learned today :)

It’s 3 : 23 PM on day 613 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,   feed myself All Bran Flakes  for breakfast, drink Green Tea  by myself, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature,  exercise my right hand –  I cut sausage using a knife with my right hand I felt like quitting a thousand times but I pushed through and got it done I am SO PROUD of me :)

This morning I posted Now pinching cloth-pins with my right hand to improve my fine motor skills sometimes i just wish i could do normal 21-year-old things God has other plans I guess :)  on my different social networking accounts   as I read it back now I am both horrified and disappointed horrified because I see that I was wallowing in self-pity and disappointed because I went back on my decision to never again complain I suppose some decisions have to be  made every day. Do you find that you have to make some decisions every day  so that you don’t fall back into your old ways?

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Day 612

Just because you can’t do something doesn’t mean you can’t be happy when someone else does it– that’s what I learned today :)

It’s 3 : 37 PM on day 612 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,   feed myself  All Bran Flakes  for breakfast, drink Green Tea  by myself, publish my Disability of the Day feature,  exercise my right hand –  I sliced a banana with a knife using my right hand and made a huge mess but I’m so proud of myself I don’t even care about the mess – feed myself an avocado sandwich for lunch, drink another cup of Green Tea and exercise my right hand some more  – http://www.stroke-rehab.com/hand-exercises.html has some fantastic hand exercise suggestions I particularly love Pinch clothespins if you have a condition that affects your fine motor skills this would be a great site for you to visit (Notehttp://www.stroke-rehab.com/ isn’t paying me to endorse their website).

A couple of days ago I came across a video on Twitter titled 6-Year-Old Boy Walks to His U.S. Marine Father For The First Time – he has Cerebral Palsy so the fact that he is able to walk is a HUGE deal – but I put off watching it until today afraid that I would be jealous that he was able to walk and I wasn’t to my surprise through I was crying happy tears as I watched Michael – the boy – walk into his father’s arms. Take a look at the video below:

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Day 611

Everybody’s problems are important– that’s what I learned today :)

It’s 3 : 32 PM on day 611 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,   feed myself Oats  for breakfast, drink Green Tea  by myself, publish my Disability of the Day feature,  exercise my right hand –  I can now  pick up a knife with my right hand now I just need more practice cutting  with it – and feed myself rice and curry for lunch.

Today as I was practicing picking up a knife with my right hand and listening to Teardrops on my Guitar by Taylor Swift I caught myself thinking if all you have to cry about is a boy you’re lucky in that moment I realized how unfair I was being by comparing my problems with Taylor’s we were different people with different problems. Do you walk around thinking you’re the one with the biggest problems?

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Day 610

Whenever you have a chance pay it forward– that’s what I learned today :)

It’s 3 : 47 PM on day 610 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,   feed myself All Bran Flakes  for breakfast, drink Green Tea  by myself, publish my Disability of the Day feature,  exercise my right hand – FINALLY after trying, trying, trying and more trying I found a way to  pick up a knife with my right hand (yay me) still  need more practice though hopefully I can tick eating with a fork off my list tomorrow    – feed myself an avocado sandwich for lunch and watched TV.

This morning Jason  Ashberg – an aspiring filmmaker who happens to have mild Cerebral Palsy – contacted me asking if I would help get his short-film Dreamer funded by watching his video pitch and sharing the link to his fundraising page to which my answer was Hey Jason, I watched your video pitch it’s really good. I will help you spread the word any way I can :) Is there any way you can extend your campaign on Indiegogo? I’m sure you would reach your goal if you did  :) I will even give you some tips on how you can raise funds for your film using Twitter if you are willing to set up an account. Yours truly, Nisha  because I have  been on the receiving end of the world’s kindness so many people helped me raise money to build a well in Kenya it’s only right that I pay it forward by helping Jason make his dream come true. Take a look at Jason’s Dreamer video pitch below:

For more information about Dreamer visit http://www.indiegogo.com/Dreamer-A-Short-Film-By-Jason-D-Ashberg as mentioned in the video above.

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Day 609

Being ignored is worse than being hated– that’s what I learned today:)

It’s 3 : 45 PM on day 609 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,   feed myself All Bran Flakes  for breakfast, drink Green Tea  by myself, publish my Disability of the Day feature,  exercise my right hand – still  need more practice picking up a knife with my right hand  – and feed myself an avocado sandwich for lunch.

Today I awoke to read a comment in response to Day 568  Nisha, I am both physically and mentally disabled but I do NOT want to be lumped into the “I am disabled” category that you are trying to create.  Trying to make everyone see themselves as “disabled” in some way or another is a pathetic attempt at you trying to make the world conform to you, rather than making the effort to blend seamlessly with it.   Instead of trying to drag everyone else down to your level, you need to step up your game and strive to live a full life as possible.  Part of the beauty of today’s world is that everyone can be different and still be accepted, but do not use your disability to guilt people into lowering their own standards to make you feel better. I read quite  few of your entries and the predominant posts are “I fed myself. I watched tv.”  Step up your game girl!  Instead of watching tv, attempt to learn to knit or crochet.  It is wonderful therapy for hand dexterity.  Take up flower gardening. Take up walking the neighbors dog for a bit of spending cash.  Do SOMETHING besides watching tv and trying to make everyone see themselves as disabled so that you feel better. What Wayne is telling you above is that your posts are depressing.   Nobody in their right mind wants to promote depressing, monotonous drivel like “I fed myself and watched tv because I’m disabled and you are too” suffice to say I was slightly shell-shocked but replied Hi, I think you misunderstand the intention of this blog post I am trying to get rid of some of the stigma around being “disabled”. I am sorry that you feel what I write is monotonous drivel I write about all the little things I do because a couple of years ago I couldn’t do them every day I try to learn how to do something new by myself. I want people to read my blog and know that it’s not too late for them to change and become the people they want to be :) Yours truly, Nisha PS. I beg you to read about who I am http://nisha360.com/2010/08/who-i-am/ before you judge me although I suppose it’s too late for that now. the way I look at it this person could’ve read the post and forgotten about it but they didn’t they took the time to tell me how pathetic my  efforts were as a writer there is no greater compliment I could receive.   Would you prefer to be hated or ignored?

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Day 608

You are what you believe you are– that’s what I learned today :)

It’s 3 : 44 PM on day 608 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,  go to church, feed myself bread and baked beans  for breakfast, drink  Green Tea by myself, hang out my family, publish my Disability of the Day feature,  publish my Kid of the Week feature and feed myself bun, grilled mutton and mash potato for lunch.

This morning my dad was going on and on about how he was alone in the world and how this life was hell because we – my mother, sister, brother and I – wanted to go church while my grandma was here – at our house – to which I said honestly that’s fine don’t project your feelings onto us some of us might love our lives there are people who have less than us who have a better attitude than us what’s up with that I am done trying to make people see all their blessings you can’t make people see something they don’t want to see. What do you believe you are?

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Day 607

The little things are the big things – that’s what I keep learning :)

It’s 5 : 39 PM on day 607 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth, drink Green Tea  by myself,   feed myself boiled banana for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, read Chasing Rainbows and Bird on the Street, feed myself Greek yogurt and tomato for lunch,   spend time outside – blue sky, birds flying all over it was absolutely beautiful :) -and brush my teeth once more.

Today out the blue I asked myself (probably influenced by reading Alice Pyne’s blog as often as I do)  what would be the one thing I would regret not doing  if something happened to me today my answer not spending time outside so that’s exactly what I’m going to do today or tomorrow at the latest because life is too short not to do the little things. Do you the little things?

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Day 606

We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment. ~ Chanakya

It’s 5 : 30 PM on day 606 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth, drink Green Tea  by myself,   feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, reread I am disabled: Dysgraphia and such on At least we made it this far  - Thank you Trisha  for supporting my  I Am Disabled Campaign - prepare my Disability of the Day feature for tomorrow-  exercise my right hand –   still need more practice  using the fork and knife together  –  feed myself Spaghetti Bolognaise for lunch, go to physiotherapy and watch TV.

This morning something happened which made me realize that some people in my life perceive their lives entirely the wrong way they are so stuck on the people who didn’t show up for them and the things that didn’t happen in the past that it’s making them bitter in the present I am not saying those people don’t have a right to be bitter but I’ve learned that those we love do the best they can for us with what they have at the end of the day we must come to a place of forgiveness and realize that we are all responsible for our own lives I’m a perfect example of that I could sit here crying about all the things wrong in my life and all the people who’ve hurt me but you know what I choose to say instead thank you God for giving me another opportunity to make a difference.  Do you deal only with the present moment?

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Day 605

I am a rolling contradiction – that’s what I learned today :)

It’s 5 : 02 PM on day 605 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,   feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, drink Green Tea  by myself, publish my Disability of the Day feature, read and comment on I am Disabled: I Suck at Driving on  Whispers of a Barefoot Medical Student and What super powers did you want? #IAmDisabled on The unofficial blog of Stan Faryna - Thank you Mariechen and Stan for supporting my  I Am Disabled Campaign -  exercise my right hand – I cut a banana with my right hand (yay me) but still need more practice  using the fork and knife together  – prepare my Disability of the Day feature for tomorrow and feed myself Spaghetti Bolognaise for lunch.

Last night laying in bed I couldn’t reconcile in my own mind how on the one hand I was fiercely independent while on the other hand I was completely dependent a perfect example of this is how I raised money to build a well in Kenya while not even being able to take myself to  the bathroom I guess I’ve just got to stop analyzing who I am and just be.  Are you the sum total of things that contradict each other?

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