Hello once again fine people,
I hope everybody studied their Pantera lyrics, along with
the subject matter of the last article because there will be a test! Haha.
For this quarter’s article, I have chosen to strategically
dismember the stereotype of what you shouldn’t, and should be, or what you’re
supposed to do with your life, if you have a medical diagnosis such as cerebral
palsy, or anything else. That’s why this quarter’s musical stylings are Alice in Chains’ “Man in the Box.” It’s the ultimate song about censorship,
especially for people like me, who aren’t allowed to be who they are, without
hearing the phrase, “Don’t you know you have, (insert your medical diagnosis
here), and how are you going to do that?” at every turn.
Yes I know I have it, but I don’t care like I said in the
first article. I’ve learned to make it work, make the best of what I have, and
adapt so that I can be as productive of a member of society as everybody else,
even though I may go about it in a different way physically. I use the internet
to compensate a lot for not being able to walk under my own power, but I can
with assistance. That’s how I submit my creative material to various places,
and people. I love it when people question if I’m depressed because I’m
thinking, when do I have time to be depressed, especially for those of you that
have read my previous articles? On top of that I have to keep up with the daily
grind that is football. Hehe. While other people see just looking at the
computer all day, my body and brain feel like I’ve worked 12- hour days per
week for seven days a week.
I’m here to tell you that I’ve been living outside the box
my whole life, and I am unapologetically proud of it. I don’t do things because
other people expect them of me, and I don’t do things because that’s what
society told me I should be, and furthermore, I certainly don’t do things that
I’m not 100% comfortable with. I study the subjects I want, listen to the music
I like, and attempt to date the women I like, even though they are perceived to
be out of my league etc. It all comes down to one thing. I’m only interested in
being the first Brad Freeman at all times. I’m not able to explain it. It’s
just my natural personality, and part of my uniqueness.
Life is too short. You can’t be afraid to make your mark on
the world when the opportunity arises by being the most authentic version of
yourself that you can be. You can’t live your life in fear of what other people
think. You have to live it for you. You can’t be what others want you to be,
and when they want you to be it. The only person you have to worry about
pleasing ultimately, when you go to bed at night, is yourself. When teachers,
parents, friends, random people, and even significant others that you’re in
romantic relationships with doubt you, and tell you, “you can’t, you won’t, and
you’re never going to, and you’re taking too long for my lack of patience, so
just quit!” You have to be stubborn enough to believe in yourself, your
ability, and what you’re doing with your life to the point where nothing, and
no one once so ever will stop you. In the face of everything, you have to feel
like everything you do, and everything you are as a person, is undoubtedly
going to be a success. In other words, achieve greatness and become the very personification
of excellence from the moment you roll out of bed in the morning until you lay
your head down on the pillow at night! It can’t just merely be a state of mind.
It has to be a way of life. This is how you become a winner at life!
Whatever your goals are in life, NEVER, and I mean NEVER
EVER give up your hopes and dreams because others told you to, especially those
who are perceived to have authority, and power over what you do because they
feel that whatever you have medically, makes you less of a person in their
eyes. Don’t ever be embarrassed, or ashamed for being your own unique
individual. There’s only one version of you. Stop worrying about being someone
else, and be the first version of you.
I really do speak from personal experience. I’ve heard it
all. It started when I was a child. He can’t go to regular public school. He
has to go to a specialty school for other kids with “disabilities”. Then as a
teenager, he wants to go to college? No, he needs to go to a group home because
he won’t study what we want him to. When I couldn’t be swayed, these authority
figures called my mom. My mom responded,
“I don’t tell Bradley what to do, say, think, or feel. Have you ever heard the
boy talk?” I’ve heard similar things during college, and after college. Whenever
people in power or authority can’t get me to change my mind, they accuse me of
not having a mind of my own, and not being aware enough to know what is best
for me. Only they seem to know what’s best for me, even though I live it every
day. To this day, mom and I have no idea why people do that. I realize that
they are taught a one size fits all application of people with “disabilities,” and
as many of you have come to figure out, Brad Freeman isn’t the stereotype. I
don’t want to make it sound like all people of importance are like that. The
people out there reading this must learn that we’re individuals, just like they
are. We all don’t meet the clinical definition of “disability.” I assure you.
Look at me as your proof.
So in closing, let me ask everybody this. Why is it that
when you have some sort of medical diagnosis such as cerebral palsy, why do
certain people, think they know better than you what’s best for you, and then
try to put you in a box of what you’re supposed to be, like you need to be
saved from yourself? In my case, with my cerebral palsy, it all depends on the level
of severity. The palsy, or paralysis, was brought on by a lack of oxygen, which
caused my brain to be underdeveloped along the cerebral cortex. Some of us are
able to walk, and talk, while some of us are not able to walk, and/or talk.
Some of us are able to write, such as myself, but others are not. As it applies
to me, I’m able to handwrite, and type, but it takes me a long time physically,
and becomes tiring like working out. This is why I use voice-activated software
to compensate. I speak and think faster than I write obviously.
I’ve always found the box to be quite limiting personally.
Live outside the box because I don’t know if you realize this, but you don’t
have to be in the mold that everybody else lives by, instead you should always
try to be the person that broke the mold, when you were born.
I’ve been breaking the mold since the day I was born. If I did it, why can’t you?
