What labels have other people put on you?
And maybe more importantly, which labels do you actually want to carry moving forward?
In this episode of Living with Mild Cerebral Palsy, I talk about some of the labels that were put on me growing up and how those experiences can continue showing up years later.
I was bullied. I was called names. I was made to feel like I was behind everybody else.
And for a long time, I internalized some of that.
Even now, when my mind gets away from me, some of those old insecurities can still come back. The feeling that I am behind. The feeling that I am not enough. The idea that I should settle in work, relationships, or other areas of life.
But those labels do not have to become permanent.
We get to decide how we see ourselves.
I also talk about another complicated part of living with cerebral palsy, guilt.
Sometimes that comes from looking at somebody else's situation and thinking you should be more grateful because they appear to have things harder than you.
Sometimes it comes from surviving things other people did not.
Sometimes it comes from feeling pressure to do something meaningful with the opportunities you have been given.
And sometimes other people will even try to minimize your experience because, from the outside, they think your situation looks easier than theirs.
You do not have to apologize for your life.
Your experience is your own.
If something is difficult for you, then it is difficult for you. You do not have to justify that by comparing yourself to somebody else.
At the same time, I think it is important not to let cerebral palsy become the explanation for every struggle we experience.
There are absolutely things CP makes harder. There are situations where it can cost us opportunities, energy, time, and experiences.
But I also want us to recognize the areas where we still have agency.
We can choose the labels we wear.
We can choose how we talk to ourselves.
We can give ourselves permission to pursue opportunities without guilt.
And we can build belief in ourselves even when doing that initially feels almost delusional.
Your path is going to look different.
That does not mean it is wrong.
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