I Am Not My Diagnosis!

On paper, I am disabled. Regardless of what I accomplish or what I do, I will never have all of my fingers, and my body will always be scarred. That alone qualifies me as disabled. In my mind and my heart, however, I am able to do whatever I want or need to do. Just because I do things differently, doesn’t mean that I can’t do them. 

As a child, my parents never treated me as if I was disabled. In fact, I often wondered if my mom could even see my hands because she treated me as if I was unscarred. I was never the special child or the child with different hands. I was always, Candida. The few times that I tried to get out of doing chores because of my scars, she always reminded me that I could do anything. “Find your own way, Candida! You can do anything.” 

The human spirit is so much stronger than we realize. We can accomplish seemingly impossible tasks if we only believe in our abilities—instead of focusing on our disabilities. Are things in my daily life challenging for me? Yes, of course! Do I allow them to stop me? No, I don’t. 

I will always have Amniotic Band Syndrome. My hands will always have the damage from the bands. The condition, however, does not define me. I have overcome it—mentally, emotionally, and physically. 

I decided a long time ago that I wouldn’t feel disabled nor act that way. It’s all about mindset. I never think I can’t do that. Instead, I ask myself, how can I do that? Just because I have to modify things doesn’t mean that I can’t do them. It just means that I do most things differently. The end result is still the same. 

When we get in the growth mindset and think, I am going to do the things that I want to do in my life regardless of struggle along the way, then we are able to overcome our circumstances. It all starts in our mind. If we can overcome the challenges in our mind, then we can find a way to overcome them in our body. I am not my diagnosis, and neither are you!

Love and blessings, 

Candida