[Massachusetts-NFB] Meaningful read… Sharing from a friend

[ladyshirl519 at gmail.com]

Your decisions reflect your desires, creativity, awareness, and power!!!

Our lives are defined by the decisions we make each day. When we choose one option over another, we shape our lives. The decision-making process can be empowering, allowing us to enjoy the benefits of self-determination. Many folks avoid making decisions and allow others to make decisions for them. When this happens, the power is turned over to spouses, relatives, friends, and colleagues, granting others the stewardship of our lives that should be ours. Though the decisions we must make are often difficult, we grow more self-sufficient and secure each time we trust ourselves enough to choose.

For those of us who are blind, this truth carries even greater weight. Too often, society subtly—or not so subtly—suggests that someone else should decide what is “realistic,” what is “safe,” or what is “possible.” The philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind rejects that notion entirely. Blindness is not the characteristic that defines us or our future. Lack of opportunity, low expectations, and misplaced fear are the real barriers. When we embrace the Federation’s viewpoint, we claim our right to decide for ourselves where we will live, how we will work, how we will travel, how we will parent, and how we will participate fully in our communities, including how we advocate.

Ultimately, only you can know how the different options impact your daily life and your long-term well-being. You have the power to competently weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each selection. Even when you feel incapable of making a decision, your inner wisdom and intuitive mind will give you sound counsel if you have faith in yourself. Try to come to your own conclusions before seeking the guidance of others, and even then, treat their suggestions as supplementary information rather than votes to be tallied. Before making your choice, release your fear of making the wrong one. Perceived mistakes can lead you down wonderful and unexpected paths that expose you to life-changing insights. If you can let go of the notion that certain choices are utterly right while others are entirely wrong, you will be less tempted to invite others to take the reins of your destiny.

Federationists understand that independence is not isolation—it is competence. It is mastering alternative techniques, whether through Braille literacy, cane travel, technology, or problem-solving skills, so that we can move through the world on our own terms. It is expecting equality and being willing to work for it. It is participating, contributing, leading, and sometimes failing—but always owning the process. We do not wait to be rescued, and we do not apologize for wanting full and meaningful lives. We recognize that with proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a characteristic, not a catastrophe.

When your choices are your own, you will be more likely to accept and be satisfied with the outcome. As you learn to make informed and autonomous choices, you will gain the freedom to consciously direct the flow of your life without interference. And in doing so, you embody the very essence of the Federation’s philosophy: that blind people are capable of living the lives we want; that we are the experts on our own experiences; and that through confidence, preparation, and collective action, we transform both our individual destinies and the expectations of society itself.

** Copy and Pasted from a friend

Shirley Dorris
President, Cambridge chapter NFB/MA

615-598-5020-Cell
617-819-4632-NFB/MA
Ladyshirl519 at gmail.com-Email

“Walk by faith not by sight”COR 5;7