To me, the inverse of the “warrior” terminology is humanness. To be only human means sometimes you do make mistakes—sometimes life is really hard. But rather than say “I can’t cry: I’m a warrior,” people who embrace the human side of things let themselves cry, understanding that to be sad about their disability some days is to be expected.
To be human and disabled means that life may require those with disabilities expend more effort to meet the same goals. While others can pursue college, hold down a full-time job, and/or do household tasks routinely, people with disabilities may struggle to meet expectations due to physical limitations like paralysis or fatigue. Things can be admittedly a lot harder to do with a disability than without one—but people who understand that they are only human can extend forgiveness to themselves without thinking that they are lesser—instead, to be human and strong means to find creative ways to accomplish goals, and to not give up on those goals, even if the path to them may look different.
In the next few articles, there are some amazing stories of people pursuing their goals while admitting to human moments. They are powerful testaments to the amazing lives people with rare neuroimmune disorders can lead.
