[nabs-l] On feeling inadequate after national convention

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all,

While the discussion of blindness and multiple disabilities was
happening here, a very similar one was going on on the Parents of
Blind Children listserv. Carlton Walker, the president of the NFB
parents' division, wrote a response, and there is a part of it that
speaks very nicely to the issue of feeling inadequate in comparison to
others in the Federation. I share her wisdom below.

"We each undertake our own journeys on this road of life. It is far
too easy to look at the
current path of a fellow traveler and feel jealousy or anger that that
traveler’s path seems so easy. Of course, the paths we see are just a
sliver of reality. We have no idea about the actual travails others have
faced.

And, come to think of it, it doesn’t matter. Our paths are our own. The
ease (or difficulty) of another person’s journey has no direct bearing on
our own. My daughter’s blindness does not depend on anyone else. My
daughter’s other academic and health concerns are neither ameliorated nor
exacerbated by any other child’s health or academic achievements or
struggles. Life is not a pie from which there is a fixed amount of
opportunity."