...AND
MENTAL FLIGHTS OF FANCY
By Heidi Johnson-Wright/The EarthBound Tomboy
I try to
live my life by a few simple maxims:
“Strive for
balance in all things.”
“Never eat
more than you can lift.”
“The only
disability in life is a bad attitude.”
It took me
years to see the wisdom in that last one. I mean, severe pain and joint damage
of rheumatoid arthritis – my particular challenge – are pretty darn dramatic.
Having shoulders, hips and knees severed from me and new ones bolted in have
proven to be a bit of a distraction.
But I think
I’ve finally seen the light and rehabilitated my attitude.
Now when I
go to a new restaurant and all of the tables are high with bar stools, I focus
on my attitude. Even though I spend the meal staring into my companions’ knees,
I mentally try to levitate. That doesn’t actually allow me to socialize with my
friends or even hear much of the conversation, but it cleans out all of the
“badness” in my mind.
My
rehabilitation also comes in handy when I’m traveling and need to catch a taxi.
Whether I attempt a street hail or try to schedule a ride by phone, getting a
wheelchair-accessible taxi is next to impossible. But that’s OK. Although my
trip then requires numerous buses and is four times longer than a cab ride, I’m
zipping along through traffic – only in my mind, of course.
If I stay in
a hotel or at a relative’s home and there’s no wheelchair-accessible roll-in
shower, no problem. As I take my sponge bath at the sink, I imagine myself
under a luxurious rain-style shower head. Ah, the lovely flowing water…
You see,
I’ve come to realize that being marginalized from society happens not because
humankind continues to build restaurants, malls, theaters, offices,
transportation and housing with physical barriers. Oh, no. The problem lies
within the mind of each and every person with a disability. Fix the attitude
and you’ve fixed the problem.
Excuse me --
must run. I need to adjust my attitude up a flight of stairs now.
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