The girl without fear. . .

Marlenea Takes to The Sky

As I embark on my 2013 journey there and achieving my goals there are many obstacles I fear. One is living within my own limitations, something I don't do well.  I find myself wanting to embrace every opportunity and make the most of each day.  Despite living with chronic illness and pain for 20 years it still cramps my style.

While there's no hiding the fact I have cerebral palsy, I do my best to hid my other disabilities and work around them to achieve my dream.  If I think about living sensible I find I can manage my fear. I can hope, I can dream and achieve.   I am by nature a person that like organisation and planning.  Growing up it was these skills that enable my to thrive, however living with unseen disabilities that only my closest friends understand the skills can also be my undoing.  I often know when my dairy looks overloaded, but dealing with it and preventing it is another story.

Often the hardest thing is comparing myself to other people. Look what their achieving they have CP too.  Often it is others with disabilities who don't see what I manage to hide so well who want to push me to do more and play harder. And by comparing myself to them I do myself no favors.

I am confident I can achieve the goals I have set myself for 2013 if I play by my rules and listen to my body and its needs.  While my mentors are going to have their over suggestions I need to be focus in my mind with determination not to let others push my boundaries.  

Yes Marlena is a wonder example of someone who pushes the boundaries and challenges the norm.  However I would do well to remember Marlena is Marlena! She is on her own leadership journey and her goals are very different to mine. Our approaches to life many look very different, but we have similar leaderships goals and values around not being stereotyped and what a world of social inclusion should look like.  So I'll leave jumping out of planes to Marlena, she is after all, a few years my junior and I get on with preparing works of art for my  art exhibition. That way my fears are at least keep at bay.