Neither Disabled nor Differently Abled

hi

i am abdullah is he i’m neither disabled

special needs person nor a differently

abled person

i am very able more than you can imagine

but in my own unique way

i do not have legs yet i am whole

i hardly require any compassion or

encouragement from anyone

on the contrary i have grown to become

the person

the son the friend the brother who

provides empathy

to my family and friends

life is tough you can either surrender

remain a victim blame it all on your own

for luck

or on others or you can create

the other route own the problem and

challenge and respond to it

and overcome it i’ve chosen the latter

option

but guess what this emotional agility

has not emerged from a vacuum i had to

go through phases

of questioning nearly everything in my

life

before owning the challenge and gaining

myself

initially i used to always ask god one

simple question why me

among six billion people all around the

world why did god

choose me to be one of those exceptions

to live without limbs

at first it was hard to believe the fact

that i’m different

watching other children playing running

wandering

jumping and even acting silly all around

while being the audience the entire

audience

had nothing but the audience

with the support of my family my

wonderful family

i started accepting and perceiving

myself and my surrounding from a more

positive lens

but unfortunately it wasn’t only about

being positive

the real challenge was not only

accepting myself but protecting

the self from people staring at me in

public places

scrutinizing my parts the missing and

the existing and creating these mixed

facial expressions

that range from sadness to pity to

astonishment the whole spectrum

of reactions i had a spontaneous option

to sit in this wheelchair mourn my luck

and grieve my life

or to live up to what i truly want

to define myself according to my own

dictionary

electionary perseverance hard work

reconciliation inner peace and innate

wisdom

after years of staying at home and

waiting for the opportunity to come

i’ve decided that it was about time to

create

this opportunity to do something special

and unique

something that none has done before at

least in lebanon

so practicing sports including mountain

climbing

might seem impossible for someone

without legs

for me it is now possible

and part of my weekly activities that i

commit

two years ago i had a chance to practice

wheelchair basketball

a new experience that was a bit odd at

the start

but then turned out to become a passion

after just four months of practice and

after participating in the lebanese

championship

the organizers selected me to play for

the lebanese national team

this was one of my greatest achievements

participating in these activities and

competitions liberated me

from my initial conception that i’m a

person confined by

its ability and who at best

can passively join as an observer

i am no longer the audience i am now the

show creator

and the active player and the director

of my own life

and journey reaching this level of

liberty

maturity and wisdom was neither ad hoc

nor accidental it was the accumulation

of many trial and error attempts of many

failures

and many downs but never

giving up

i have to acknowledge that this would

not have been possible

without the safety net that my family

and friends have created

i am blessed in having an ever

supporting father

and a big-hearted exceptional mother

i am so lucky to have true and authentic

friends

who’ve always included me and all their

plans and activities

with my friends i’ve always belonged and

never once felt

that i’m different or cut out from the

whole

you know every time i’m in public and i

notice

that people are reading me differently

honestly

i could not care less

all that concerns me is that i can

continue reading myself properly

defining myself according to my own

terms and conditions and not theirs

my take home message for you is to never

ever underestimate the power of change

within you own your problems

up and stress and persevere to move on

i’ve moved on with my life beyond the

boundaries of this wheelchair

and will continue to sustain my

liberated perception

of self finally

i’m neither disabled nor differently

abled

i’m actually very abled

but in my own unique way

thank you