My daughter, Michelle, was born with Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder that manifests itself through developmental delays, mental retardation, over friendliness to strangers, heart and blood vessel abnormalities…
One day, Michelle and I were walking through the neighborhood talking when out of the clear blue she said to me, “Mom, I wish I were normal; like you?” That statement caught me by surprise, because I’d never considered myself “normal.” (I guess “normal” is relative.) So I said to her, “Michelle, what’s normal? I wear glasses to correct my double vision. You don’t have to wear glasses. I deal with incredibly poor equilibrium. You have good balance. So what’s normal?” Then I went on to explain to her that everyone is dealing with something, whether it’s physical, spiritual, mental, or emotional.
A number of years ago, I attended an Amway business conference. They’d brought in a motivational speaker with a physical handicap. On both hands he had only his index finger – no thumbs, no other fingers. He showed a video of himself playing tennis. He held the tennis racket between his wrists. Then he told us that after the game, a reporter shoved a microphone in his face and said, “How can you play tennis with such a handicap?” His reply was very thought-provoking. He said, “The only difference between you and me is that you can see my handicap.” How true. Fear is a handicap. Anxiety is a handicap. Double vision is a handicap. Arthritis is a handicap. Mental illness is a handicap. Anything that prevents us from living a life free of physical, mental, or emotional limitations can be considered a handicap. You can’t always see a handicap, but if you’re human, chances are you have one. Everyone is dealing with something, and if you’re not, maybe you are abnormal.