“I Lived”
One song that really resonates with me is, “I Lived” by OneRepublic. I have many challenges in my life like the fact that I need a ventilator to breathe, and a wheelchair to get around. Many people may see this as a barrier, which in some ways, it can be, but in so many ways, it is not. People assume that I don't live a good life, and that I deserve pity, but in reality, I have had so many amazing opportunities and experiences. I even have talents that other people that can walk, and that can breathe on their own, might not have. This idea of living despite challenges is very well represented in the song that I chose. The song says, “with every broken bone, I swear I lived”. With every surgery I have had, with every ventilator, and with every wheelchair, I have lived my life to the fullest.
If you were to see a teenage girl with a ventilator and a wheelchair, you might not expect much from that girl. You might not expect her to be that smart. You might not expect her to play an instrument or dance. You might not expect her to be able to do many activities like swimming, going to see movies, and traveling. But when it comes to me (the teenage girl I am referring to), I can. I can do all these things that you probably wouldn’t expect. I am a straight A student, I play piano, I LOVE to dance and was a part of a choreographed dance video that was recently released, I have gotten an accommodated floatie made for me so that I can be in the water, I have had several opportunities to be on television, and I have flown on a plane several times and very much enjoy to travel! So, as you can see, my disability does not stop me from anything. My “broken bones”, as the song calls it, is nothing compared to the amazing things I have done.
You may consider some of these to be small examples, but for someone that uses a wheelchair and a ventilator, it takes a lot of coordination and problem solving to make certain things work. “Hope when the water rises, you built a wall”, is another lyric from this song that really connects to the idea of having to sometimes coordinate and plan ahead before doing some things. For example, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to full-on swim like an able-bodied person may be able to, but we figured out a way to make something else work. When the water was rising, telling me that I would never be able to get into the water, we built a wall and we figured out another way. We see a lot of families with kids like me that lose hope very quickly and that are paralyzed with fear, so they choose to just stay home all the time. My moms have always had a lot of hope for me, and our family motto is that no matter how challenging things can be, we will make it work.
