Acceptance

 I've talked before about people finding out about your brachial plexus injury. As I said, often people don't find out for a while after first meeting you. Because of this, though they may be surprised, it doesn't change how they feel about you. Everyone has injuries and everyone's bodies are different so people can accept this easily (if they don't, you are spending time with the wrong people). Which is why I'm not going to talk about the acceptance of other people because they should and will accept you for you if they are the right people in your life. What I think is so often harder in any case is for you to accept yourself. Whether it's a brachial plexus injury or anything else, I find that this is too often the major fault in humanity. With double-standards and inequality and judgment everywhere you look, it's hard to be confident in ourselves. People say don't change for anyone but turn around and get mad at others for just being who they are. It's never made sense to me. There are too many contradictions like this that we use or see every day and I think what people need to realize is that no matter how much we wish there was, there is no certain statement that is going to make all of life make sense. Every life, every place, every situation is so incredibly different that it's irrational to look for one simple answer to figure out life. It's too complicated! So stop living by one quote you heard years ago. "Live in the moment" doesn't always apply because sometimes we have to look back to reflect on our mistakes and successes and look forward to prepare for what's to come. So when people tell you not to change, listen but remember that change can be good. And when people tell you that how you are isn't right, you don't have to believe that. You can only be sure that you will always have one thing: yourself. So love her or him and don't ever forget to. Everyone is different so there is absolutely no reason to compare yourself to anyone else. All that matters is that you accept yourself, perfection and imperfections, and then I think everything will fall into place.