If like me, you believe life is part of a bigger plan, then my family were chosen, and everything was pre-determined before I was born.

It was a life I needed to question, there was every reason to question. Living with a disability I didn't know I had left me with years of mental and emotional struggles and questions that remained unanswered.

The bigger plan for me worked out, but our experiences are our experiences to have and attached to those can be trauma, anger, irritability, anguish and trust issues. Although our experiences never really go, you can build on your life positively, to place those appropriately.

I could never have imagined back then, a diagnosis at age 46 would lead to opportunities in writing, for me to become an author and writer.

The 'universe' clearly had bigger plans.

Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges. In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines. Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.

Most people who read this blog

went on to read these blogs next
Date 29 October 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

Autism and the Hidden Challenges of Living Independently

When the familiar world changes, leaving you to navigate life and the overwhelm of autism on your own Thank goodness for this blog – a place to make sense of my experiences. It's been a challenging life. Growing up ...
Read more
Date 26 October 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

Healing Earth Side: Putting Mental Health First

Learning to Live Well With What I Cannot Change. I have come to understand that healing is not always about fixing what is wrong. As my experience shows, some things are beyond our control, and therefore healing ...
Read more
Date 22 October 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

Do You Have To Forgive?

Finding closure by letting go of guilt and responsibility that were never yours to carry Every child has a right to know who they are and what they are living with. This is part of my healing journey. I spent much of my ...
Read more
1 2 3 … 691

6 comments on “The Bigger Plan”

  1. Aside from different experiences, you and I have much in common; we both trust the bigger plan and we've never wasted a single moment contemplating failure.

    You trained yourself to be an author and writer before you even put a pen in your hand.

  2. You should be comforted that your painful journey was always part of a bigger plan and if anything had changed to any of the players in that plan along the way, then you would not be in the place you are now in, doing what you do.

    The universe had big plans for you and you rose to the challenge. You trusted it and it also provided the solution.

    1. Thank you. Yes, I am comforted my life worked out for me and that is has brought be to this place and I am able to do what I do with my writing.

      You are right, but it doesn't make what you go through any less traumatic, or palatable, even with an understanding. That all depends on how much trauma you have and how much you're put through.

    2. Thanks Tim. Yes we do, although in my case I was too wrapped up in wanting to know what was wrong with me, I never thought about failure.

      I don't think it was a conscious or unconscious decision. I was just wrapped up in my own thoughts most of the time, truthfully it wasn't on the radar.

  3. Hi Ilana,

    Greetings from across the pond! I too am a firm believer in the theory that my life was planned for me, exactly as it turned out, with all the trials and traumatic experiences not withstanding from before I was born.

    It is only after going through traumatic events and us coming out the other side do we understand that our lives are a part of a bigger plan.

    I'm finishing my 60th year (with Cerebral Palsy) on earth and I am exactly where I should be. I was told once when going through a really hard time in my life that 'what does not kill you will only make you stronger.'

    It doesn't minimized trauma and pain, but it gives you a perspective.

    1. Hi Vincent from the other side of the pond! and welcome to the site. I am so pleased you have got in touch with me.

      I am pleased you are where you should be and agree with you when you say, being where we are supposed to be, doesn't minimise trauma and pain, but it gives us perspective, I believe it also gives others perspective too on our situations.

      Before I found out about Cerebral Palsy at the age of 46, I wasn't in a position to think about the bigger picture. When you're struggling to understand yourself and your disability, it's the last thing you think of, but so much has happened since then.

      Through my blog I have been able to piece my experiences together, through my writing, I have come to understand and see the bigger picture.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to receive regular updates

Enter your details below to be the first to receive updates on new articles on my blog.