SO what is your hang-up/handicap

Hello People! How are you doing? I hope this blog finds you all well...this is probably my last post of this year unless something strikes me as interesting or something funny happens so MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR! Be Blessed and remember God's got a blessing...with your name on it!

SO one of our neighbors gave my sister some playing cards that he got at a gas station, the cards say "goodwill" on them and it is the registered trademark for that company. I was looking at the cards and it made me think about a friend of mine , Micole Shorty, who passed away earlier this year. Micole, or Michael as I called him, was in a wheelchair due to a wrestling accident. It was actually a freak accident that caused him to be wheelchair and oxygen bound. Who knew a wrestling hold could cause so much damage and almost take someone's life? ANYWAY... He never complained though and at his funeral service one of Michael's friends got up and said that Michael had said to him one time, "everybody is handicapped in some way the only difference is that you can see my wheelchair". Interesting statement and actually profound when you think about it, because we all have something that "cripples" us and stops us from doing simply things and living our lives freely.

The cards that my sister has shows different people who suffer from different 'handicaps' who have achieved much success or are well known in their field. For example: "Thomas Edison 1847-1931-Learning Disability; Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882-1945-Polio; James Earl Jones 1931- - Stutter(I didn't know that Darth Vader stuttered); Albert Einstein 1879-1955-Learning Disability; Alexander the Great 356 BC-323 BC Epilepsy; Marilyn Monroe 1926-1962-Stutter(I didn't know she stuttered, but we all know she wasn't known for talking. Okay that was wrong, my apologies Ms. Monroe.); Hippocrates 460BC -370 BC-Epilepsy; Julius Caesar 100 BC-44 BC-Epilepsy; John W. Powell 1834-1902-Amputee; Henry Ford 1863-1947-Learning Disability; Frida Kahlo 1907-1954-Polio; Wilma Rudolph 1940-1994 Post-Polio Syndrome; Hank Williams Sr. 1923-1953- Spina Bifida; Linda Wagner 1949- - Attention Deficit and Learning Disabled (Who knew the Bionic Woman was learning disabled and couldn't pay attention); Socrates 470 BC - 399 BC Epilepsy; Jim Abbott 1967- -born with no right hand (Jim Abbott is/was a professional PITCHER for the Angels and Yankees); Walt Disney 1901-1966 Dyslexic; Margaux Hemmingway 1954-1996 Epilepsy; Cher 1946- -Attention Deficit and Learning Disabled (I am not saying a word on this one); Winston Churchill 1874-1965 Dyslexic; Harriet Tubman 1820-1913 Epilepsy "Rescuer of slaves. She was called the "Black Moses" (I am glad that despite her handicap she pressed forward and did what she had to do!); John F. Kennedy 1928-1961 Learning Disability; Chang & Eng 1811-1874 Conjoined twins; Sandy Duncan 1946- - Visually Impaired; Carly Simon 1945- - Stutter (I don't think you can tell from her singing that this is a problem); Alexander G. Bell 1847-1922 Dyslexic; Martin Luther 1483-1546 Epilepsy; Helen Keller 1880-1968 Deaf and Blind; Beethoven 1770-1827 Deaf and Bi-Polar and the list goes on and on....

All these people have made their mark in their field or in history some of them over coming astounding odds. A pitcher with no right hand! An Olympic gold medalist with polio! As incredible as their stories are we can be just as incredible as long as we do not let our disability define and/or control us. 2009 is almost a memory 2010 is a new year about to begin. Let's make 2010 the start of making our mark in history or at least in the lives of the people around us, what will you be known for? I know it is a HUGE question even I don't know the answer for myself but....think of all the possibilities of what you could be!

See ya when I see ya!

Peace! Mattie