How To Make The Most Of Your Disability
Rick London
A lifetime ago, I was living in Washington, D.C., working in corporate America, waking up at 6 am, rushing with my coffee while I brushed my teeth and put on my pinstripe suit and yellow power tie, and drove to work, arriving before rush hour. Then came more anxiety for rest of the night, usually a sleepless one.
After a major heart attack, a burst appendicitis, a dysfunctional vagus nerve (requiring an implant) and a myriad of other health problems, I was put on the corporate sidelines, and, doctors said I would not be working again. I was only forty years old.
I was now considered officially disabled. I did not buy the term. I bought an old used pc and learned all I could about the Internet. I learned how to be a cartoonist and writer. I learned how to outsource and license the manufacturing of my image products. I became a successful E-entrepreneur within a few years, and the government still treated me as if I was useless to society. After all, I was disabled which can carry a lifetime stigma.
So I built the most popular offbeat cartoon site on the web and twelve licensed image specialty stores. Told social security. "Sorry you are disabled".
I applied at several universities and was accepted into one of the best, and even received a scholarship. I completed 3 years but had to drop due to health reasons. It was not an easy college, a small (known to be difficult) private school. I made good grades. Still, I was disabled. I was beginning to realize what a person's opinion, simply a label, can do to affect someone who is trying to get back into society by working hard.
Being disabled is not so bad. I work from home and I still have a social life, just not at my nine to five office. That's okay. I save a lot on gas, and have my own Starbuck's blend at home; so don't have to drive there and pay inflated prices. I am a thousand times more productive being "disabled" than when I was a mover and shaker in corporate America. I bet others have experienced a similar feeling.
As I mentioned, being disabled is not bad at all. I am very productive and able to work from my home. Being labeled disabled is a whole different story. It closes doors that should not be closed, not just to me, but to many who deserve a chance. Next time you meet a person who is "disabled", take a closer look. Chances are he/she has more abilities than disabilities.
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