It's Okay to Ask for Help!

This week, I thought I would share something that I wrote a few weeks back. Note: This is what happens when you have poor fine- motor skills.

Now, I realize that I have some physical limitations, but I truly believe that the best way to live my life is as if those limitations are non- existent. Some of the best and most memorable moments in my life was when I managed to prove others wrong by accomplishing something that I was told I would never be able to achieve. Throughout my life, I have been constantly underestimated because of my disability. I suppose that being underestimated actually turned out to be a good thing, because it ignited and fueled a fire deep inside of me that cannot be extinguished. I may be small, but I am mighty. The stigma that many people have developed about individuals with different- abilities has in turn become my motivation. I have learned that the only way my abilities can be compromised is if I choose to be a victim of my challenges. I am a very determined person with a go- getter personality, and a sense of adventure. I have been described by my friends and family as the kid who tries everything.

My whole life, I have moved a slower pace than everyone else, but it has taught me to appreciate the small things. Things like laughter. Even though somedays prove to be more challenging than others, especially when I am in pain, laughter has become my weapon, serving as the ultimate coping mechanism. The ability to laugh at what is happening to you makes life so much easier. I know that I can count on my family and friends to put a smile on my face when I need it most. My family and friends, combined with my notoriously sick sense of humor have helped me defy the stigma. I will be the first to admit that I deliberately crack jokes about the fact that I have Cerebral Palsy. My philosophy is that life is too short to waste time and energy being angry, because it won’t change my reality. Learning to embrace my challenges was easier said than done. That’s not to say that I don’t have days where I wish I could alter my reality. I am truly one of the luckiest girls on the planet simply because of the love and support I have been so fortunate to receive. Love is unconditional and infinite.

I will never forget the time when I was in the middle of a shift at the after school care program, and I was sitting in my wheelchair with the zipper on my jeans wide open. Earlier that afternoon, I had gone to the washroom and no matter how hard I tried, I could not get my zipper done up, but I was too embarrassed to ask for help. Eventually, I decided to pull my shirt down hoping that no one would notice. Boy, was I wrong!

I ended up engaging in a conversation with a man who came to the center for a meeting. I completely forgot about my zipper dilemma until I happened to glance down at my pants. I panicked. I started wiggling frantically in my wheelchair trying desperately to cover it up. It was just my luck. All of the sudden, my boss walked by. She looked at me, confused. “Bec, is something wrong?” She asked.

She glanced down at my jeans and smirked. Before I knew it, she had knelt down to my level and was doing up my zipper. She was laughing so hard that she could barely manage to do it up herself. At the end of my shift, she called me into her office. It turns out, the the man I was talking to is an insanely talented Juno Award winning artist. My face turned beat red with embarrassment, but I couldn’t help but laugh. This is what is so amazing about the people in my life. They have the ability to make me laugh, even when I am overwhelmed with embarrassment, because I could not do up my own zipper.

I decided to share this story because it is not only a good reminder that the ability laugh at what is happening to you makes life so much easier, but it taught me that it is okay to ask for help when you need it.