When you’re walking, you don’t go through the day thinking of a chair as a necessity, you think of it as a place to rest or a seat to work from. You wouldn’t think of it as a piece of equipment to get to the restroom, or to go to the store, or to work. A chair, is just a chair.
For most people this would be correct, but for me it is my freedom. It has made me look within myself to find the spark to Keep Rolling On.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I went through life always believing that I needed to be physically strong to get through, but I was wrong.
I have come to respect my chair, like a samurai would his sword, without it I would be lost. My chair is more than a piece of equipment that gets me from point A to B. It has been a key that has opened a door to a new me. Sounds crazy right? Most people see my chair and think “Oh look at the poor guy” and then they get an overwhelming feeling of wanting to help me. Not sure why this happens, you don’t see people going up to a homeless person in the streets and saying “How can I help?” Instead most people avoid the homeless. The most interaction is giving the homeless change, but hoping they don’t make physical contact.
Do people give in to these instances as pity or because they care? The pre-wheelchair Sergio would think I don’t need your pity! But the chair has changed this emotion in my heart. I now see that my chair gives me the ability to say hello to someone whom I have never met and to say thank you for your help. My chair allows me to start a conversation that would take us from stranger to friend. I now live my life with a drive to make me want to reach out and help others and my chair is the vehicle that makes it all happen. Funny how things turn out. At the beginning of my journey I felt that I couldn’t be around people because all they wanted to do was stare at me because of my wheelchair, but now I use it to get to know the world.
I think this was always the plan the Lord had for me. It was the only way he could get my attention, by thunking me in the back of the head to say, “That’s enough, I have plans for you. These plans will involve you being able to communicate with the world and I’m giving you a chair to help you achieve this.”
My first step was to come to terms with the fact that I had to start asking for help. You see my life before the chair was of a man that could handle anything and would never ask for help. Saying thank you was not part of my vocabulary. Now the chair has a way of opening my eyes and making me see the world, a world that has no limits. Remember that the only disability in life is a bad attitude!
So today I encourage you to Keep Rolling On!
Thank you. I am so n a wheelchair and don’t like to leave my house. I don’t mind if people stare and I appreciate offers of help. I’m very outgoing once I get out but it’s a chore for my husband to get me to go out. Thank you for sharing this.
I have just had to accept my fate as a full time wheelchair user. I will be having an amputation soon and due to some terribly painful neurological disorder, the doctors do not think I will be able to use a prosthetic after the surgery. I was mostly using an I walk 2.0, but then the disease took a downward spiral and I have to only use my chair now and not put pressure on either of my legs. Only one is being amputated, good riddens!
It has been 6 months since I have been solely chair bound, I have been temporarily using one for many years, for me it was a gradual thing. Since totally relying entirely on my chair, I do get what you are saying! I live overseas and the culture is not like American culture… People are hard on the outside and only if you are invited for a glimpse into the person they really are, will you see that their hardness is only an outer demeanor. I am used to this and I accept it as my new culture as well. However, that being said, if you are a disabled person, all that seems to go out the window! Random people offer and try to help me when I’m in public all the time… It used to be upsetting because, “I can do it.” but I really cannot.. Long story short, my chair is a tool that the good Lord gave me to access and interact with this world in ways that would be impossible in this country for me, any other way. Thank you for your inspiring story. Keep rolling and G-d bless!
Beautifully said.