"You're a rockstar"

The teacher told me this in the middle of a yoga class last week. Just days after seeing Humans of New York's post that I shared last week, the same yoga teacher stopped me after the same class and told me I was "inspiring." I immediately recalled the picture and the woman calling it "patronizing" and I almost laughed. I didn't laugh! I smiled and told the guy I really appreciated his words, thanked him for the class, and left. The whole drive home I tried to figure out how I felt about it. My immediate reaction was not that I felt patronized. It was comforting to know that my hard work was recognized. But I also completely agreed with the woman on Humans of New York who said "I'm not living a wonderful life for a disabled person. I'm living a wonderful life, period." I think this is a very important message of which we need to constantly remind ourselves. People tell us we are "rock stars" and we are "wonderful" and we are "inspiring," but we are all of these things even disregarding our disabilities. It goes back to what I know I've talked about before which is to not be defined by your injury. You are so much more than your disability. I am a strong yogi and the woman on Humans of New York is compassionate, intelligent, beautiful. We are all of this and more because of who we are on the inside not because of what people see on the outside. You are allowed to feel good when someone calls you a rockstar for modifying all the yoga poses for your shoulder and you are allowed to be happy when someone tells you that you are inspiring. But you are also allowed to not feel so good and to thank them kindly and dismiss it entirely. We are all different and we cannot be categorized.