"This is who we are and much much more."

In my mindful weeks holiday I have enjoyed time to reflect on some of life's paradoxes.And then I read the wonderful open letter to the woman who called Obama a retard on twitter,Letter from Special Olympian .Please do read it, you wont regret it. Its a dignified challenge full of grace and eloquence and I felt compelled to do this short blog after reading it.

 As it made me think of how often disability, illness, change in circumstance affects peoples perception of us. That somehow this difference makes us less then we were, different from others,in need of a different approach. The head tilt that says so much. Now of course that's not always bad, if the encounter is one of empathy and mutual respect.But I guess my plea is , see the person not the condition. And also remember that every experience in life makes us who we are.I loved one of the quotes from my Mindfulness class last week, "Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional". An important message to all of us i think, with the right support all challenges are surmountable,And they add to our strengths in the long run, they don't diminish them.

Reasons to be cheerful.Our lovely pup, Cara, has gone out for her first walk today. The wonders and smells of Inverleith park greeted her. En route she met a workman down a hole. As he popped up to say hello she kissed him.I hope he enjoyed it as much as she did!