I love writing warriors and hunters fighting evil! Those fictional works are fast-paced action full of tension, betrayal, and snark. Danger and drama coat each chapter as the characters fight for not just their honor but their very survival. However, our real world lives aren’t like that. We rarely need to make snap judgments to ensure we live. We often even refer to our trials as #firstworldproblems, and it’s true for many of us. Why then do we judge so quickly? Why do we judge so harshly?

A long-time internet friend wrote the beautiful piece below. Hopefully, this will help challenge all of us to question what we think and see.

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What do you think, what do you see?
What do you wonder when you look at me?

Do you see a woman sitting tall?
Or a disability, someone in a wheelchair so small?
The person who’s truly there, all she’s come to be?

Do you see the artist, the pyrographer?
Who loves to sing, who once danced too?
A writer, a reader, an artisan engraver,
So many things for her to do.

Do you see the child, the girl of 14?
Innocent until the night she became a victim.
Sexual assault destroys, it’s oh so cruel.
As is the loss of trust in others,
When those who should be there, who you need,
Hide their heads and just won’t believe you.

Do you see the mask fallen into place?
The things hidden away, locked inside
Reality is just too real, far better for her to hide.
God the only one who truly sees
Through her mask, her disguise.

Do you see the academic wanting to work in Law?
The one good at languages, and so much more.
Or do you see the pain behind the mask
Her body starting to fail oh so fast.

Do you see the anorexia tearing her up inside?
The shame and fear she carries she tries to hide.
The college student, doing oh so well,
What career is ahead she just can’t tell.

Disability hits hard, it changes things so fast.
Once a dancer, now that’s no more.
Instead a major spinal surgery is what’s in store.
Do you see the strength building in her?
The mask is now fixed, to be removed no more.

Do you see the dislocations tearing her apart?
Pain setting in so hard, never to let her go.
No matter what she does now,
It will always be part of her heart.
A daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother to be,
The metal bars in her spine will allow for pregnancy.
Life has others plans, instead of a baby in her arms,
An angel born straight to Heaven,
Miscarriage, a soul ache so deep, arms so empty.

Other pregnancies will come,
Two to stay, but three more not to be.
Faith and friendship will pull her through.
For life continues no matter what you see.
A new path lies ahead of her, with friends so true.

Health is fickle, disability not so,
Chronic conditions come but will never go.
Asthma, Ehlers-Danlos, Meningitis,
Hemiplegic Migraine and more,
A list so long it goes out the door.

Still she survives, still she lives on,
Pain gets worse, the mask it slips.
Pain meds so high, the world’s clarity gone.
Until the day she says no more,
Medication’s time is done.

Faith and friendship get her through
Coming off pain meds is so hard to do.
Impossible the doctors say,
You’ll never do it, come what may.

They are wrong, they do not know
Just how much pain she can get through.
Strength comes from inside,
From faith in a God that will never leave her side.

Do you see the miscarriage supporter?
The new careers, the fundraiser,
Working for the NHS, then Logistics her next role.
Law now gone, Meningitis took her memories
Her hearing also damaged, the clarity it stole.

Do you see the geek, the sci-fi fan?
The one who speaks of shows to you unknown.
The Con Family who will always remain,
In her heart, giving her an online Home.
Her internet friends help through so much strife.
They do not see her as weak, or as fragile,
They see the one with the Arrow wheelchair
Geeked out in true Comic Con style.

Do you see the wheelchair as a trap?
Believe me my friends, it will never be that!
The wheelchair provides freedom and flight
Racing her passion, day or night.

Nightmares and flashbacks, they come and they go.
Memories buried deep yet won’t remain so.
Anxiety attacks through the years,
As anorexia it’s ugly head again it rears.

Yet training lives on, the hope it gives rings true.
Strength to live, to drop the mask, to fight on,
Faith and hope give the will to start each day new.
For they will help her sing a new song.

Weak no more, yet disabilities they remain.
Pain as well, that is always the same.
Endurance is so much more than a word or a game.

Do you see the para-athlete?
The one who lifts weights, is a marathon racer.
The one who can do a 50k Ultra
Despite bronchitis trying to displace her.

So much inside you’ll never know.
So many paths to tread, places to go.
Fight on fighter, follow your desire!
Family, friends, and God help you go ever higher.

She’s not alone and neither are you.
See what you may, think what you do.
Know that God is always there to help you too.

So, what do you think, what do you see,
What do you wonder when you look at me?

What do I see when I look at you, or at me?
Someone who’s worth is so Priceless to Him
That Jesus died for you, for me,
So, run wild, live free, love strong.
The price is paid for all Eternity

By: Mic Riddy

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So readers, what do you see? What do you see when you look at yourself? What do you see when you look at others?

Want to show some love and support for Mic? Check her out at @twelve12tochange on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

https://www.facebook.com/twelve12tochange/

Feel free to share your thoughts below too. As a writer, I know how important it is to see how your words impact others.

Let’s embrace positivism and unity in our thoughts and words!

-RSJ

#defytheodds #truth #challenge #wheelchairathlete #PricelessMovement #MeToo #twelve12tochange