Why is it that we place so much stock in what other people think we can end up sabotaging ourselves? What other people think is important only in a peripheral sense. I do not need another person to tell me that I have worth in this world or that my beliefs are important. They are important to me. Just as another person’s beliefs are important to them and should be respected by everyone. No one has the right to belittle another just because they may not understand.

Religion is a very good example. We all have different ideas, different faiths, different practices and no one belief should have any more value than another. Just because someone doesn’t believe the same dogma as I do does not make them wrong, just different. Faith is very personal and private. Religion is one thing, faith is another. Religion was created by people to make sense of the darkness, to reach out to each other for comfort and for strength.

Faith is God given. It is from within. It does not promise you the world and all its wonders. It does allow you to see those wonders if you believe in them.

Are you afraid of what the future holds? Do you fear that you will never marry because you have a disability? Or that you will be unable to work or attend school? You may never marry. You may have to quit work or school. Is that the end of your life? You decide. We are put on this earth for many, many reasons, none of which I know. What I do know is that I am the architect of my own future and I will not throw in the towel. Life is precious yes, but life is easy – inhale, exhale. What is difficult, and a lot more valuable, is living. Each and every day brings us wonders, heartache and beauty. We may have to look for it but it is there. You must try to find the good in every situation and the more you try, the easier it will become. That is the way one has a life, work at it, every day.