I get asked a lot about how I’m so confident in my
wheelchair and with my body. The truth is, I wasn’t always this way. I spent a
long time hating myself and being embarrassed of the way I looked in my
wheelchair. If I’m being 100% honest, I still have my days where I look in the
mirror and wish I were standing so my clothes fit better. Days where I wish I
had full body function, so my body looked “normal”. But what really is normal??
Nobody is the same, and whether you’re able bodied or not you will always
compare yourself to others.
The day that I realized this is MY body, and the only
one I get, so I better learn to love it is the day I changed for the better.
Sure, I can compare myself to tons of girls but why?? I’ll never be them. I am
me and they are them. My body is full of scars and weird things, but it’s still
mine. I love every scar I have because they tell my story. I love my little
quirks because they make me different. For every person that you wish you
looked like, that person is wishing they looked like someone else.
Stop putting that energy towards wanting to be someone
else and learn to love being yourself. It won’t happen overnight, maybe not
even over a year, but it is possible. It took me about 5 years to be completely
comfortable in my skin. I’m comfortable posting pictures in my chair. I’m
comfortable going anywhere in public. If people are going to stare at me, I
might as well give them something to stare at. That doesn’t always mean
dressing up. That means carrying that confidence with you everywhere you go.
There will always be someone prettier, but there will never be another you. For
my wheelchair girls, you go out and wear that chair don’t let the chair wear
you. You are not your chair! You are you! That chair is just your accessory,
your throne, you make that chair look good!
