There's Always a Yay

The day I had a car accident in 2015, was also the day my two best friends took me out for ice cream and reminded me not everyone goes back to driving on the highway the same day.

The day I fell unspeakably hard on my knee in Lisbon last December, was also the day we did a boat and trolley tour and finally saw it sunny after a rainy day (pre-fall, when I took walking without the limp I'd have for the next 2 weeks for granted).

The day I found out a presentation I'd spent time creating and recording for a virtual conference wouldn't be used, because the event was cancelled last minute, was also the day I finally had dinner with a friend who I hadn't seen in 9 months.

All of these days could have been considered "bad days." And in the moments that those things happened, I did consider them to be bad or unfortunate things.

Living with an invisible physical disability could make for a lot of "bad days" if I focused on them that way - there's always something that I feel I can't do, or have to plan out so much more than someone else, or that feels out of my control.

And that's not an exclusive experience to having a disability. Lots of people are living with invisible struggles that make their lives harder and are out of their control - whether it's a family or financial situation, a body or self-acceptance struggle, or something else they're afraid to share.

I definitely still have bad days. But if I spent all my limited energy focusing on the "bad" parts of my days, I wouldn't have any capacity to notice the good.

And it's intentionally choosing to notice the good, that keeps me going through the bad.

That's part of what my TEDx talk is about. Everyone can benefit from finding and creating their own joy to get through their difficult times - and this talk shows you how.

You can watch, comment and share by clicking on the YouTube link here - thank you so much! 🙏🏽💖✨