Carpe Diem

In her piece, "Diasbility", Nancy Mairs made a statement that really stood out to me. In her last paragraph, Mairs ultimately says that we (able-bodied people) will all become disabled at some point in our lives. After thinking about this for a bit, I understood how true that statement was. At any point in our lives, we could become disabled, so for those of us who are lucky enough to be born able-bodied, we should not take any moment of our able-bodiedness for granted. For example, we should explore and go out and do the things on our bucket lists while we are young and abled, before we become crippled with age. We should cherish our health while we have it. None of us know what will happen to us tomorrow, which sounds extremely cliche, but it's true - unless, you're Raven Baxter, of course. Now, I'm not saying we should all act like the Dauntless from Divergent and throw ourselves from trains to get our adrenaline pumping, but we should do things we love and make the most out of everyday. 

Even if you do have a disability, don’t let it define you. You are in control of yourself; you should not let anything hold you back from doing what you’re passionate about. One person that came to mind when I read “Disability” was Nick Vujicic. For those of you who do not know who he is, he is a man that was born without arms or legs. He is such an inspiration for so many people in the world, because despite his disability he has accomplished so much. For starters, he can swim; play soccer; fish; and golf, all with no limbs. Nick recently got married too, which is something he didn’t think was possible when he was younger. He didn’t let his disability limit him from doing things that any one else does. He is truly an inspiration.

One thing that I have taken from reading Nancy Mairs' piece, is that we should be grateful for what we have and even if there is something wrong, we should not let it define us.