"My life and experiences have shown me exactly what I am capable of and that I am a survivor. I am exactly where I am supposed to be, with my blog and my book.

Although as a child it didn't take away the confusion or the hurt, it did bring understanding that this was my life and that through the odds, I have come through the other end, but it hasn't come without a mental or emotional cost.

I came across a story recently about a girl who, during her school days, was written off by teachers. And yet, she proved them wrong. It hit me hard, because that was my story too. I know what it feels like to be written off, that you’ll never make it.

And while it’s true – not everyone is capable of offering support, here’s the thing: if the tables were turned, and they needed support, they’d want us to support, for us to believe in them. We all want that kind of support, don’t we?

It’s funny how we forget how much it matters. But instead of holding a grudge, I’ve learned to keep moving forward. After all, we’re all just doing our best, and sometimes, we need to be the ones to show up."

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 26 July 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

Living with Difference

Seen, Misjudged, Rarely Understood For most of my life, I lived in the dark. Not because I didn't know I was different, but because I didn't yet have the understanding to explain why life always felt harder than it seemed to be ...
Read more
Date 24 July 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

The Hidden Effects of Loss

Some consequences aren't immediate, they're cumulative It's five months into four years through twin loss, and I've split another tooth. On its own, it's an ordinary event. But it's an event that made me stop and look back ...
Read more
Date 19 July 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

What Writing Taught Me About Self-Understanding

How writing became more than a creative outlet When I started writing, I had no idea where it would lead. I simply needed somewhere to put my thoughts – a place to make sense of experiences I struggled to understand ...
Read more
1 2 3 681

4 comments on “What Life Teaches Us”

  1. Life has taught me a lot of very harsh lessons like being nice to certain people in order to make them happy will almost always come back to bite you in the ass.

    I have watched so many bad things happen to good people, while the bad people have so many great things happen to them, which has made me confused.

    Life doesn't seem fair, but the reality is that it isn't always fair, unfortunately. We just have to learn to accept certain things even if we don't like them and stay focused on living our own lives.

    We can only make ourselves happy, which I wasn't allowed to do as a child, but technically I am an adult so I can choose to live my life the way I want to finally live and not worry so much about making everyone else happy.

    1. Thanks Randy. Yes, life teaches us that we do have to accept certain things, but it also teaches us that we have control over certain elements too.

      What is meant for us will always find its way. The life we've had to live was already earmarked for you and me, long before we were born. Although, it's hard to believe in this particular concept, it's absolutely true.

      Not everything we see is as we think we see it, although it may seem from the outset that bad people have so many great things, but I don't believe it's true.

      Integrity plays a big part, society and the world has lost its way and those people are getting away with things. It's back to basics and quickly.

    2. The 2nd paragraph of Randy's comment is true, good things really do happen to bad people. But you must understand that their guardian angels are from hell, fate just hasn't touched them yet.

      Life teaches us to be humble, kind and compassionate, if you're really paying attention.

      1. Thanks Tim. Yes, it's a difficult concept to get our head around.

        I am sure if we were to delve deeper, there will be suffering there, I believe we live our karma. Karma is a question of timing, fate will eventually catch up with us.

        Like you Tim, I also believe life teaches us to be humble, kind and compassionate, but we must pay attention to those. All easy to ignore when life gets in the way.

        We're being tested and we're not getting that right.

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.