3 Reasons Why You Should Focus on the Ability and Not the-Dis In Disability
Disabilities can be detrimental to one’s self-confidence and overall well being. Feelings of inadequacy arise, and they can be difficult to overcome. Often outshining the ability, the -dis can be haunting to someone dealing with a disability. When I was first diagnosed with bipolar, I disorder I felt helpless. But after looking at all of my abilities and further developing them, my outlook changed. Here are three reasons you should focus on the ability and not the -dis in disability.
1. There is more ability in your disability than there is disability.
If you find yourself dwelling on the things your disability prevents you from doing, sit down and write out all the things you can do despite your disability and all the things you cannot do. I can guarantee you that your list of abilities is longer than your disabilities. Focus on the list of things you can do and do well. Set goals to get better at them and even work on the things you cannot do. For me, it’s hard to be in large crowds of people that I don’t know. Whenever I’m in this situation, I have panic attacks. So one of my goals is to improve in this area. Is my ability to be in a large crowd without freaking out as important as my ability to function on my job? No, but it’s something that I need to get better at if I want to grow as a writer or businesswoman. Making a list helps you put things into perspective and allows you to see what areas you could work on.
2. The abilities make you who you are, not the disabilities.
It is vital to understand that your abilities make you unique and your disabilities do not make you inadequate. Just because you cannot do something today doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do it in six months or even a year. You are enough, this moment, this second, just as you are. I don’t believe there is a single person on this planet who doesn’t want to grow or evolve. I wholeheartedly think that it is our innate purpose. We often get so immersed in what we cannot do that we forget about the things that we can do and don’t work at improving in these areas. The areas that give us a reason to wake up in the morning and the areas that enable us to have meaningful connections with others. These are the areas that make us who we are.
3. The abilities make the disabilities disappear.
When I take an honest look at the things that I can do, they pale in comparison to the things that I cannot. The more I work at becoming a better writer, the less I feel bothered by the fact that I am not the most exceptional student. Being a better student is essential if I ever want to advance in my career, but it is not as important to me as becoming a writer— something that makes me genuinely happy. Becoming a better writer will actually make me a better student the next time I decide to enroll in college courses, thus eliminating the issue of not being a good student. Sometimes the things we do not excel in connect to the things we do excel in and becoming better in one area makes us better in the area that we feel deficient. Working on things that we already do well in also gives us the confidence we need to tackle the things we feel more faulty at.
A mental health blog 