There Are No Disabled People, Only Disabled Minds

I was surfing around the internet the other day when I came across a website that had been made by a boy with Down Syndrome. I went inside, and what I found was amazingly inspiring. This boy had been born with Down Syndrome, but his entire life had fought to be as normal as possible, and was currently an avid skater, sports player, and mountain climber. There were pictures of him doing absolutely amazing things and of the many medals he had won competing in the Special Olympics. His attitude was astounding – one picture shoed the back of his car, where a decal reading “Powered by an Extra Chromosome!” gleamed in the sunlight.

All his life people had considered him handicapped. Anyone who looked at him would have thought of him that way, and would have felt pity for him. He didn’t want anything of it, however – his determination led him to do anything that normal people were capable of, and he doesn’t seem to know how to do anything but accomplish and achieve. His mission was to make sure that no one who knew him considered him handicapped.

And so, several days later I go to Wal-Mart. I got my parking space and went toward the entrance, and as soon as I reach the handicapped parking spaces, I see a woman with her handicap license tag and sticker pull her car into one of the handicapped spots. She got out of her car, opening and closing the door, and with no problem whatsoever swept into the store. Upon getting inside, she searched around for something, and apparently unable to find it, went to an employee. Of course the man responded immediately, and while she waited, an electronic scooter was brought to her. I overheard her talking about a pain in her leg that she would experience whenever she had to walk too much, or something along those lines. She put her handbag into the basket, got onto the scooter, and drove right past me.

I have to be honest, something about this didn’t sit well with me. Before me was a woman who practically announced to the world that she was “disabled” in order to get a closer spot to the store and a little cart to ride around in so her legs wouldn’t hurt her. At the same time, however, there was a boy who was born with a condition that made everything he did more difficult, and he was probably splashing along in a kayak or something, and doing everything in his power to make sure no one thought of him as handicapped.

People have a severely wrong mindset. The more I pay attention, the more I find people who want things handed to them, people who look for any little obstacle that makes things harder on them that they can use to get hand-outs from others and ask for an easier life. I keep seeing handicap tags on cars driven by people under fifty, people who want a different set of standards applied to them so that they don’t have to put forth as much effort. They want the easy road, and they want others to look at them as handicapped, and I just don’t understand this. The last thing I want to be is handicapped, and if I was, there’s no way I’d announce it to the world.

I myself believe in my heart that there are very few truly handicapped or disabled people. The only handicap I ever see that people have is a very poor mindset. The young man with Down Syndrome is less handicapped than most anyone on the face of this planet. Everything on earth is available for him to reach out and have, and all because he does not see himself as a handicapped individual, but instead someone who is willing to go out and earn each and every thing he wants. He wants to earn things himself, and because of this, he is a more capable and productive member of society than most anyone. In this boy, there is a huge lesson that everyone can learn. – These supposed “handicapped” people, people who want to be pandered to and have things made easier, they need to grow up and have a major paradigm shift.

There is not a single person that is not capable of accomplishing incredible things. All around us people are living inspiring lives and doing amazing things just by being themselves and working their very hardest at everything they do. When a person decides that they are not handicapped, and is able to overlook and overcome the obstacles facing them, incredible and miraculous things happen. That boy with Down Syndrome has left a lasting impression upon me that inspires me to want to be the very best I can be. When somebody looks at me, the last thing I want them to notice is my shortcomings. – I want to be seen for my accomplishments, my talents, and all the amazing things that I am capable of.

I charge the rest of the world to get off of their butts and be the people that God made them to be. Right now there is a kid with Down Syndrome overcoming the odds and doing things that people have for all his life told him he couldn’t do, so why can’t anyone else? If you really care about yourself, stop asking what other people are going to do to make your life easier, and start finding ways to work around your problems and overcome your obstacles. The world will look at you differently, and you will be surprised at who you’ll inspire.