Inspired

For the past three summers now, I have had the opportunity to work at an amazing camp called Youth Leadership Forum for high school juniors and seniors with disabilities.  I had no idea what to expect the first summer.  I definitely expected sleep deprivation and lots of teambuilding activities (accurate, by the way).  I probably expected to hand out all kinds of advice regarding my vast amount of leadership skills (wrong).  I didn't expect a week long of highly processed and/or fried foods or the kink in my workout routine.  Mostly, I didn't expect to be inspired.  After all, I'm the one with all of my ducks in a row, right?


Meet M.  (Well, apparently my computer doesn't want you to meet her today, as it is not letting me upload any pictures.)  M has Cerebral Palsy.  She gets around quite well using a walker, but nonetheless, she wakes up every morning with a body that does not obey her mind.  M is extremely intelligent, funny, kind, and motivated, but many people automatically write her off as being none of those things because she has a visible disability.  Although M is well-spoken, people in public arenas often address whoever is with M with their questions and comments instead of addressing M herself because they assume that she is unable to talk.  It would be easy for M to complain about the way people treat her, to use her disability as an excuse, or to become angry and bitter that she wakes up with a disability every morning that 98% of the world will never understand.  Instead, she chooses gratitude.  She chooses to overlook people's stereotypes.  She chooses to persevere despite all odds.   


M wasn't the only inspiring camper this week.  B is blind but is going to OSU for engineering.  A has a Traumatic Brain Injury but is one of the funniest people I have ever met.  J has autism and can sing like nobody's business.  C has epilepsy but works, volunteers, and takes college classes.  And the list goes on.  Gosh, even one of the counselors has cancer.  When I looked around the room at camp, I didn't see disabilities or sickness.  I saw hope.

Being at camp this week reminded me of several things.
1.  I complain an awful lot (about stupid things).
2.  I  make lots of lame excuses.  
3.  I am blessed beyond measure. 

Tomorrow, I challenge you to wake up and count your blessings.  I can guarantee you that someone else is, and chances are good that it's someone who has far less to be thankful for than you do.