Do Things Differently

So this post is about doing things differently, something many of us don’t enjoy doing.  If you do something in a different way than you are used to, you may think that only increases your chances of failure.  But it truly does much better things for you.  By doing things differently you can look at life from a different perspective.  By doing things differently you can possibly find your true calling that you never knew existed before.  How do I know this?  I’ve been doing things differently my entire life.

When I get up in the morning I cannot get myself dressed or into my chair.  I need to rely on either my parents or my nurse to assist me in all of that.  Once I am downstairs, my parents or my nurse have to help feed me breakfast and give me my medicine.  On weekdays, my nurse has to drive me to school and stay with me at college the entire day.  My nurse and my parents mostly have to be my arms and legs for me.  If I need a drink of water, someone has to get it for me and put a a straw in it so that I can drink it.  If I need a snack, someone has to get it for me.  If my arm falls off of my armrest, someone has to put it back on the armrest for me.  If I want to use my computer, my little brother has to help me put my hands on the table and push the table closer to me so that I can reach my laptop.  If I need to be dropped off somewhere, my parents have to drive me there.

But there are also many things that I do on my own differently.  When I am typing this blog post, I have to use the part of my fingers on the back of my hand instead of the part on the palm of my hand since my hands are so tight.  When I eat, I have to avoid foods that are too chewy or tough to eat since I have the risk of choking.  When I want to turn the page in a textbook I try to turn it with my pencil by sticking it in between the next two pages and moving it to the left.  When I want to do anything at all I have to think of different ways of doing it and be patient with myself.  These things may change my appearance, such as my feet splints and my wheelchair, but they also make me a stronger person.

I’ve been able to learn how to be patient with myself and people around me.  I’ve been able to learn what the truly important things in life.  I’ve been able to learn how to look past someone’s appearance and see the person they truly are inside.  I’ve been able to listen to people when they talk about a problem they are having since I have been through a lot myself and I know how good it feels for someone to just listen.  I’ve been able to keep on trudging on through life even when it seems there is nothing worth living for.  I’ve been able to turn failure into a lesson to be learned, and many of those lessons I share here on my blog in the past 49 posts.  Finally, I’ve been able to learn that Optimism is the best thing for not only me, but everyone else.  Hence, my blog was able to begin and become what it is today.  My blog was able to reach over 14,000 visitors from around the world in what will be a year in only two weeks.  Now if doing things differently can make my life better, imagine what it can do for you.