Where do SOME PEOPLE Get Off?

And no, this is not going to be one of those posts you can't let your children read…  In fact, you might want to read it with them!

Thank goodness for family.  If, say, you had a combination of depression, insomnia, widely spaced (every 2-3 years???) manic episodes, and an anxiety disorder that can occasionally spark migraines, panic attacks, and mild agoraphobia, you don't just need someone who is going to love you anyway.  

Not that this person necessarily exists, or that I personally have met them.  Cough.

But if they did, they would need someone (or several someones!) to love them, put up with their wacky moods, ignore their sleeping habits, AND go to the grocery store for them.

The thing is, if there ever WAS such a person, what IF they could overcome all these conditions, enough to join the general, home-leaving work force.  Perhaps they could be a software tester, locked in  a room all day with a computer, sending reports via email.  

Perhaps they could be a truck driver, going the long haul with nothing but their own thoughts, a satellite radio, some lovely scenery and maybe a trusty dog for companionship, should they need it.

Perhaps they could be a copyright editor.  Or a low-level accountant, who doesn't need to supervise others.  Ot interact with them, for that matter.  Or a late-night shelf-stocker at a grocery store.

Or maybe, just MAYBE, they could go into sales, dealing with the public day in and day out.  Maybe they could become a manager of sorts, organizing the work of others.  Maybe they could become a teacher, dealing every day with the needs of students.  MAYBE even a politician, an attorney, or a news anchor, someone who has to speak publicly to the multitudes on a regular basis.

Sound ridiculous?

Well, maybe people in a wheelchair can't do a 5k race.  Maybe someone with a prosthesis shouldn't play basketball.  Maybe someone born without hands shouldn't become a carpenter.  Maybe someone born a quadriplegic, shouldn't be a motivational speaker.

Where do any of us get off, thinking there is a limit to what someone else can do?

We all know not to stare at the person in the wheelchair, with the prosthesis, with no hands.  But don't we all think at times, "Gee, I'm glad it's not me…"?  But when we do this, we have to back ourselves up…  Because the only limitations these people SHOULD have are the ones they put on themselves.

So, if someone whose brain reacts chemically to all sorts of stimuli with an inappropriate course of actions, happens to want to be a Sales Manager, or if a quadriplegic wants to be a marathon runner, if someone with Autism wants to be a New York Times best-selling author, well, this too can happen.

Hands OFF my potential.  I, you, EVERYONE has enough difficulty muddling through this life, without others imposing limits on us.  This isn't going to happen automatically, but through effort and with conscious thought.

Just like anything else worthwhile.

So, this post is for you to think about, the next time someone tells you "You can't do that…".  NEVER let someone else define YOUR potential!

Mark Haddon didn't, Nick Vujicic didn't, and Bob Hall didn't.  If you don't know about these very accomplished individuals, try Googling them and lend a little inspiration to your day.  Then pass it on!