"I don't know" was my response.
"Well, what do you do all day?"
I told her, but nothing I said was good enough.
When I said I was walking, she asked, "How much?"
She proceeded to tell me about a paralyzed person who lives by herself and was doing a road trip.
"There's so much more to life than these four walls, " she said. "You are limiting yourself."
As if that weren't enough, she said, "You've just got to want to."
What the woman didn't know was I had a very painful morning. It had taken hours to get my body in a good place. I wasn't in the mood to fight. I didn't have the energy or mental focus to respond.
Now I would say, "What does it matter to you what I do all day? Why do you have to be so negative? Driving isn't an end all be all thing. I have to learn to walk again before I can think about driving."
I do want to do more. I strive to do that every day. I have goals. I help other people. I am creative. I know that I am not limiting myself. I know there are multiple ways to do things in life. Just because I don't do things just like everyone else doesn't mean I am not making a difference.
She said she was so impressed with that paralyzed woman because she had never seen anyone in her condition do all that.
I am thankful for every person who overcomes the odds. My situation is different, though. I am not paralyzed. I feel more than anyone knows. If you haven't lived in my body, you don't know what I go through and what I have overcome.
Like a friend told me, "Anyone can walk, but few people ever go anywhere."
You can have unlimited potential and never take advantage of everything life has to offer because you are in a prison and don't know it. Being in bondage to your thoughts can be much worse than a physical disability.
* Please don't ask who said this. Just know that life is real and you have to deal with people who don't understand what you deal with.
