Take a Breath and Enjoy the Ride


     This past year I turned 30. They say, whoever they are, that 30 is supposed to be a significant turning point in life.

 

     Up until recently, I found this statement hard to believe, but events have occurred in the past couple of weeks that have changed my mind. For anyone who has been following my blog lately, they've noticed a couple of things; I've increased the number of posts I've written. Hopefully, you also saw a renewed passion regarding issues within the disability community.  It has taken some time to realize the origin of the change in my motivation, but now I think I have figured it out.

 

     During a recent conversation with my friend Eliza, she put things into perspective. Our conversation occurred weeks ago, and I thought nothing of it at the time. However, I tend to replay conversations in my head rather than finding their significance later. I was replaying this conversation in my head last night when a light bulb went off in my head, and everything we discussed suddenly made more sense. The discussion centered around my life and my grand plans; my friend did not try to downplay my grand plans. She just reminded me not to look too far into the future and live in the moment. Up to this point, I had been planning my life away from Florida and even the little town of Ocala. I still want to move eventually, but I realized between last night, and today there is a lot that I still need to do where I'm at.

 

     A lot of times, I think my grand planning has a lot to do with my disability. I know many other individuals like myself who sit and plan for a future that isn't guaranteed. In other words, to use my dad's business model, they have many ideas for the 10 year goal, but have no idea how to break it down into small manageable segments to reach that goal. I'm guilty of this myself. I have three incredible opportunities here in Ocala, but I tend to forget this and look forward to the next step on the life ladder.

 

     Thanks to Eliza and others, I'm slowly taking a deep breath and enjoying the moment. I'm currently building two self-advocacy groups in different parts of the state. I'm also lucky enough to be on the ground floor to develop a unique radio show about disability issues and news.

 

     I guess this blog's point is not only to highlight my accomplishments and what I'm doing now but rather to get the message across. In the 21st century, we are so fast-paced and technology-driven that we often forget to enjoy life for what it is. Before the race of life is run and we all stand at the finish line, why don't we want the scenery we are blowing past. This is not only a message for people with disabilities but also a message geared towards those of my generation as a whole.

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