Someone just commented on one of my Instagram pictures that said "the only disability in life is a bad attitude." Apparently she missed the memo that that was a positive message because her comment to me was "if you ever have a bad day, check out my page for inspiration." Those that know me, know I hate pity, so I know you can see the smoke coming out of my ears.
As a business woman myself, I get it. We market. We sit on social media for some time and hunt down our prey, so to speak. But that message, to me, for lack of a better term, was grossly generalistic. She chose that picture to comment on with that comment? She clearly assumes all people with "disabilities" need inspiration.
Me? I choose to be the change I wish to see in the world and be my own inspiration. I suppose wanting to cheer someone up isn't as bad as others who get bullied, oppressed and criticized. If a person's first instinct is to lift someone up, that's never a terrible thing. But assumptions are never a good thing. Don't project your grossly generalistic assumptions onto others, whose life you know nothing about.
This is why I do what I do. To get people to see past the wheelchair, the exterior of everyone. To stop the generalizing and categorizing that so many of us experience and help those who let these incidences get them down. There is always going to be ignorance in the world. Our response should just be to politely show our positive mindset and hope to inspire the person and change their mind.
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