When we’re dealing with physical problems and are desperate to be heard, hurting and ignored for the most part, it’s easy to understand why we would withdraw and why others would then choose to define us as being lazy.
No one is born that way. Our environment and what we have to deal with has an impact and is often the reason why we behave a certain way. It’s a coping mechanism. No one consciously chooses to be a certain way, it’s done unconsciously.
I know that had my physical and emotional problems been addressed, I wouldn’t have given up so easily and my family wouldn’t have seen me as being lazy, but how wrong families can be. When I eventually left home, became independent, my outlook completely changed.
I became more pro-active, in life in general. I became interested. I went back to study, found out I had Cerebral Palsy, then set up and began to write for The CP Diary. Some four and a half years later, having never missed a day blogging, I am a totally different person.
I believe everyone has the potential for success regardless of how and where their starting point is. We don't all start at the beginning. It’s completely wrong for others to define us, or for us to define ourselves in a certain way.
People can and do change and therefore our thinking must change.
Yes, I agree. It's not fair for others to judge people with invisible illnesses and assume they are lazy. People can't help it when they get ill. We didn't choose to have this illness, and I think it is different for everyone.
I have fibromyalgia, diabetes and CFS. I go and do things a lot. I stay busy because I choose to. If I didn't I would end up in a bed. People look at me and ask how I keep going because most people they know with the illnesses that I have, do end up in bed.
I have a strong will and I choose to stay strong and keep going. I think we all have a choice on how we live our lives.
Thanks Lisa. I'm pleased you have people ask you and don't just assume things about you and that's good. That's the way it should be.
My experiences differ from yours, but still feel it's wrong for anyone to assume people are a certain way without making a connection of why... and then be defined in that way.
We have the potential for change and success.
Achieving our potential is all about being the 'best' person that we can be and is about expressing ourselves to the fullest. Obviously we are all different, in so many respects we each have our own attributes so achieving our potential is a relative term.
You have changed so much from your childhood, you probably wouldn't recognise yourself if you could step outside of your life and look in. You are inspirational proof that it can be done.
Thank you! Yes achieving our potential has to be a relative term, because we all achieve differently and at different times.
I do see how much I've changed over the years; I'm fortunate that the transition has been easy for me, but not as easy for others who have to adapt to the way I've changed. I know my father struggled with that.