-Finding myself in Champaign-

We often have to go away from home even if we like it or not. Immigrants have to make the decision to dive into an known sea of opportunities. To be honest leaving loved lands, friends and family is never easy. But, there comes a time where you have to let it go and hope to discover that better life you have been dreaming of at a unfamiliar place in the world. I found my home away from home on September 16, 2016. I found it at Champaign eleven years after grabbing our bags with my family and leaving Moroleon, Guanajuato. I’m proud to say I arrived home again after the long wait. In this blog I’ll identify how I found myself in a unexpected place and how we should focus in feeling at home in whatever part of the world we are at.

Immigrating affects everyone differently it’s often not that easy to say goodbye to your lands and just utilize opportunities other countries offer. It’s hard to forget your roots. I have family members that have move from Illinois back to my Guanajuato because this amazing place with many job opportunities just didn’t felt like home. In my case, I had no option it was hard for me to see a way of making some kind of a decent life in Mexico for someone with a disability. Especially since I was already in a place where people with disabilities are treated pretty much equal. So I stayed in Woodstock, Illinois patiently I had dark nights where I’ll wanted was to be at my family reunions in my Grandpa’s huge field or at all the family/friends parties.

Eventually, I manage to get into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. To my fortune I discover gold in a amazing campus. I embrace it my true identity I seek out opportunities to find my place. A friend recommend me a restaurant where they made some big quesadillas name, “Huraches Moroleon”. He couldn’t even pronounce it and I couldn’t even believe he was actually referring to my good old hometown. As soon as I roll in the restaurant there was a picture of my hometowns, “Jardin” Spanish word for, “Square”. Also, there is a famous street on my campus name green street were all the restaurants and bars are at. Ironically in my hometown there is a street known as, “Puebla” that serves the exact same purpose. So I guess the United States and Mexico aren’t that different in that sense at least after all. Finally, I took the decision to join the casa latina thanks to my supportive friends that suggest me to go there and I found many latinos that share my old traditions from my awesome Mexico. This 16th of September we celebrated the Mexican Independence Day as we march down that green street. We were all a bunch of desperate Latinos trying to feel at home away from home. Plus there was other people from different ethnicities trying to learn about the diversity and traditions of my country.

Once that happen I was like I finally after eleven years have arrived to where I been wanting to be for years. So now is my time to enjoy life to the fullest in the sea of opportunities. I prayed many times to God for this young happy days in which I could reach my dreams slowly being free and learning from the life experiences my ride of life throws at me. Now, it’s happening at the moment. All those years I wanted to be in Mexico and I couldn’t have paid off because of the hope I had many of my days to reach for the stars.

That’s what hope and faith in God can do to you it helps you be patient for the painful days to end. A saying says that hope is hold on pain ends. And, believing every day that the impossible will happen with your whole heart will make you focus on finding what your looking for. It’s about never giving up and embracing what you have in the moment only then will you be able find your place at in any given spot of the world. Who would of thought that I was going to find the gold I was looking for at UIUC.

So for all of us humans trying to feel at home in unknown lands let’s all embrace opportunities in whatever spot we are plus embrace your true identity and the people you have available at that given time in life as well. We often don’t know it but maybe what we are looking for is right in front of us yet we don’t recognize it. To finish this up to all the Mexican people out there I wanna say, “Viva Mexico” in what ever place your at. For other people with different identities embrace them in a respectful way and be happy even if some people want you out of that place your currently living at.

To finish this up I will like to point out that my biggest dream is to one day be able to fix other countries in the disability sense I wanna create a fund to raise funds to make other countries wheelchair accessible and heart welcoming as my Illinois. Then with the help of my family or pretty much anyone that genuinely wants to help me I’ll bring the money to the government in those countries and I’ll make sure that they use it to actually benefit other individuals with any kind of disabilities so that they can find themselves at their own countries if that’s what their heart desires. Will see where life takes me I’ll go with the flow for now and I’ll enjoy the awesome ride of life God has bless me to experience for as longest as I can but obviously I’ll make sure to help out who ever I can a long my way.

~Life is a ride towards happiness🌏♿️~

Everyone is looking for happiness but no one knows how to really arrive to it. There is a few routes and different ways of transportation to take to get there. In this world there is a full variety of possibilities. The ends and the means. We want to end our ride in a smiling happy place. But, our means to get to the place may change from person to person. We often as humans are given a large variety of different resources to get to happiness. Some resources may get us closer to happiness only for a awhile. So in this ride, we were given positive and negative resources that lead us to complete or fake happiness.

Here is a list of positive resources that all types of people may use to reach happiness👇:

1. Feet and hands need to be used to cooperate with others towards happiness.
2. Manual wheelchairs and motorized ones to help those who are disabled.
3. Fancy or crappy cars, bicycles, skate boards, and air planes.
4. Money for gas and different tasty food to survive the ride.
5. People with wisdom to guide us and help us get there.
6. God in different forms.
7. Nature, animals, and music for us to enjoy the ride.
8. Honest, respectful and kind people to support us to get there. Some may even ride along towards happiness with us forever.

This list could go on but the point is we are all blessed with many things that we often don’t use wisely to arrive to happiness. As humans we get confused with what makes us enjoy our ride until we arrive to happiness. For me, happiness it’s heaven and we won’t get there if we don’t love one another like brother and sister. However, we as humans are terribly weak when temptation hits our heads. In that moment we can get lost in bumpy routes that have short term happiness. Once the happiness is over, the reality hurts those innocent hearts that just wanted to get to that loving happy place.

Here is the list of negative short term happiness we tend to get lost in at times👇:

1. Dishonest people that supports us to get there and then takes advantage of us to get to enjoy their own ride towards happiness. Often times in the form of money or making fun of others.
2. People with selfish feelings that don’t care if we ever get there.
3. Drugs and alcohol that hurts the body in the long run but has some temporary happy feelings.
4. People that pressure you into accelerating the ride of life until we crash and hurt our inside feelings.
5. Feet and hands that are used to hurt others.
6. Superficial people with money obsessions.
7. Unwise and immature people frustrated with hate.
8. Magical happiness that we create in our heads in order to arrive to happiness.
9. Lonely routes with broken dreams that we once consider would get us to happiness.
10. Racist people that hold grudges against groups of innocent people along the ride.
11. People full of jealousy issues which will hate on our means to get to happiness.

The truth is we reduce our chances of getting to happiness if we fall deeply into the wrong paths to get there. Yet, we are desperate trying to get to that happiness which can often blind our vision. At times we walk or roll into a dark path to realize the importance of taking upon a brighter one. Some of us have a clear direction of what route we want to take in order to get to a spot full of joy in which we will feel complete. But, in the end if we design our own routes in a wise way, we will get there sooner or later. We just need more patience instead of despair. Step by step one day at a time everything will end okay. Most of us are stubborn human beings seeking somebody special to spend the ride to happiness with. But, we can either choose wisely or we can get knock down the hard way. All of our decisions will shape our path which can turn either to be a smooth one or a bumpy one. Others have many ambitions and we want a few bucks to use in order to make us enjoy the ride. Also, some of us want to take a moment to contribute to others and help them get to a positive happiness with our work. Let’s face it, we all need a nice amount of these three factors plus the positive happiness resources in order to help others arrive to true happiness.

Overall, let’s all enjoy the ride and celebrate the fact that we are all blessed to be in this ride together. Where the ups will make us feel like flying and the downs should teach us something. Whenever we get low we got to learn to innovate and fix our map to happiness. Yes, a map seems like too much work but let’s not fall in the mistake of being too lazy to plan our lives. Let’s get out there in the world and learn our own proper wise way to get to happiness.

As from my own experience the guidance of God is my only for sure plan I got. I have hopes to conquer all my dreams one day and spread love when I get the chance. There is too much hate in this ride so I wanna throw love as my wheels ride on my path towards happiness. Through my life, I want to write and tell truths based on universal lessons I will learn throughout my life. My most current plan is to help out others overcome the different adversities in life once I get my masters in social work so that we can all arrive to happiness.

In the end God has helped me enjoy my ride since the day I was born in the fallowing aspects:

1. Stay on track in my dreams by praying to reach them every day.
2. Spread some love.
3. Give to others.
4. Have gratitude for my every day blessings.
5. It has made me have more integrity when it comes to being a moral character.
6. Love myself.
7. Respect others because God is the one that will judge everyone at the end.
8. Believe in the impossible.
9. Recognize that I’m a sinner and develop knowledge from my mistakes.
10. Realize I haven’t done my ride of life alone.
11. Feel support when no one gives me any.
12. Get a sense of meaning and perspective.
13. Establish a sense of commitment when it comes to choosing a girl to ride a long to happiness with me. I want a girl to completely respect me take me as I am or not take me at all.

God is the master key to my happiness and that’s the only map I need in order to arrive to happiness. To anyone reading this right now I wish you good luck in your ride to happiness, live it up and most importantly, make it your own! Make sure you choose a wise one that will make you enjoy the ride of life to the fullest in the long run.

-Stereotypes have made our world a mess-

Our world gets worse and worse every day that passes by. We have everything to be happy! A beautiful nature, one another, fun places to go and awesome food to eat. Yet, we don’t enjoy it as much as we could if there was more equality and less incorrect assumptions. The stereotypes we tend to create for ourselves in our heads are more powerful than we think. We as human beings tend to judge others with every little thing that they do. We tend to hold particular minor or big fixed ideas that oversimplified an image of a particular group of people or things. Now days, I know people that hold racist ideas that say, “Islamics are terrorists” or “Illegal immigrants come to steal”. It all started with wrong stereotypes that block others vision from looking at the big picture of this group of individuals that are often innocent. In this blog, I will deeply analyze the way all stereotypes have played a huge role on how others are treated unfairly in society.

Stereotypes block us from getting to equality and acceptance of all human beings. The different ideas we assume with a few first impressions every day limit our vision and our learning. If we want to grow we have to be able to learn from all kinds of people out there. But in order to allow ourselves to do that, we need to get rid of these stereotypes we have created. Furthermore, this will stop racism, and we will arrive to a world with more equality. So let’s forget about these assumptions that have many people going nuts.

There have been a few moments in my ride of life where stereotypes have affected the way others have treated me. Not just in my disability sense but in other kinds. I have always been too lay back to care what others think though. That mentality could have made things worse because sometimes I let people treat me a little bit different when maybe I should of not have. But sometimes I don’t want to create more conflict since it wasn’t that big of a deal to me even though MLK showed us to always fight for our rights and equality. At least obviously I have never been treated as bad as African-Americans were back in the day.

We as people with disabilities argue at society since they created stereotypes about us saying things like, “We are all inspirations”. Yet, we also stereotype others as well by certain actions. We all, as humans often assume things for a while until we get the bigger picture of a person’s personality. The problem for everyone begins when we judge by a minor idea then we completely generalize stuff about that person and it sets a barrier that doesn’t allow us to see the awesome person behind the barrier. We shouldn’t let the first impressions of people determine whether we like them or not. Get to know everyone and give them a fair chance👌.

So in school or the work place or anywhere there is always the person that no one really talks to. Maybe because he has been weird with some interesting past actions. After that we assume stuff about that person to keep yourself cool with your friends that think the person is weird or crazy in some sense. Then, they realize that person was completely different than they thought. Some able-bodied people also hold the opinion that those with disabilities don’t go out or we are sitting at home all the day but that is not always the case. Many able-bodied people get super excited when I’m out at a bar. They sometimes buy me drinks just because they are impressed that I’m out there having fun or it might be something else who knows. I exactly don’t know at this point anymore to be honest.

When I got to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, my life got easier because I could take off on my wheels anywhere. I was completely free for once. I started to go out a lot to Red Lion a popular dance bar and wear my “I give great rides shirt” (which made many people think I was some junior frat boy that his only purpose was to get with girls). Then, certain individuals on wheels excluded me from a few events and stuff for those reasons. One of them even told me it was because they thought I was a frat boy and none of them were. Eventually mostly every one changed their perspective on me for the better and a few others kept it. This one goes out to those potential people that may see me as a frat player boy still the truth is there is a thing call love that has beaten me up so much. Girls have left me, they have played with my feelings and never care enough to stay. After many girls kissing me, hanging out with me and not wanting anything serious I decided to keep moving on from player girls quickly. This was to avoid pain until I find the right good girl that has good values, nice emotions and mainly loves me enough to stay even if I’m weird in some ways. I’m aware it’s not going to be easy, nobody said it would be but I won’t stop believing and trying just because some girls didn’t want to or couldn’t get serious with me for whatever reasons. So now, I hope that more people know the big picture that they didn’t want to see because of the barriers they built in their heads. This barriers are sometimes established with jealousy, insecurities from the past, and different characteristics. For us with disabilities, assuming things at first or a few impressions is basically a very similar thing that happens when people assume we are all inspirations based on some of our behaviors. Let me point out this, there are a lot of player girls too that break guys’ hearts in our society. Man and women are more equal than ever before. So, let’s stop stereotyping them and treating them differently. If your reading this right now and your unsure about what kind of a person someone is, tell him/her directly to their face in a respectful way and not to others. Consequently, if they are that kind of sketchy person, who knows they might change thanks to your advices.

Furthermore, I invited everyone I knew to a bar crawl I went a few weeks ago. Some people seem to be limited to study a lot or maybe shy or they were simply not open minded about it which I respect. Plus, others had stereotypes one said, “I won’t go I had a friend drink too much and he died”. Not everyone that goes out and drinks dies. Yeah I understand that’s a very screwed up situation but not everyone drinks to get hammered and small risks are worth it at times. You can be careful people can go and not drink plus not everyone will notice and who cares if they do. You can go to dance and network with others. The truth is I had never felt more unity until that bar crawl it was very diverse. I learned a lot from the people I met. I had many interesting meaningful conversations that I’ll never forget since I managed to drink responsibly enough to remember. Few people that don’t drink went and they enjoyed it. They broke the barrier that didn’t allow them to see interesting people that happen to like drinking responsibly or not.

On the other hand, I had built stereotypes about the gay/bisexual community but they were never strong. I never let them limit my vision because who I am to judge what others do. I believe God is the one that will judge everyone in the end. So I became good friends with gay bisexual and lesbian people. I had never done it before and it was awesome after all I don’t regret it. They are great fun people that often don’t get treated fairly which makes me sad. If you don’t have any gay, bisexual or lesbian friends you should try it sometime is not bad like many think you’ll learn a lot from their experiences.

Overall, let’s not let the first impressions we get from someone allow us to fall in the mistake of wrongly stereotyping and creating a barrier. Also, don’t listen to what others say about a person it might not always be accurate. Try to walk on the shoes of the other person for awhile. So we have to get the bigger picture of stuff first and than determine what kind of person someone is. Especially let’s not go out there spreading stuff when we don’t even know what is like to be in the other person shoes. In reality assuming strong or even minor ideas holds back any kind of learning or progress in society. Get to know everyone! Who cares how they look, wear or do! Just be careful, keep your eyes widely open and heart open. As far as America goes it has never been completely great but I don’t understand why people bring this idea up. Until we accept that we are a multicultural country full of immigrants and different people we will get rid of all kinds of wrong stereotypes. We will be able to completely progress. We will progress it by getting rid of racism, learning from one another, innovating, and reaching equal love. That will make America completely great.

Final question, “Will we be able to get rid of all kinds of stereotypes and reach full equality one day?”

You choose!!!!

~A mother like no other~

People only appreciate the efforts of a mother until they live far from their home. In this blog I will explain the great impact my mom has had on my life and the story of that moment when I truly appreciated my mom. Also, I want to remind everyone the importance those human beings that gave us life have in this world and show that all moms should be appreciated with the whole heart at all times. Alright, let’s roll♿.

The legendary mothers always want to maintain their kids until the last moment because they are afraid that the kid will suffer. But, there is always a moment in the huge ride of life where a goodbye needs to take place. It’s a simple law of life. The unity between a mother and a child depends on the unconditional love that the kid receives since day one. So if the string of unity maintains itself solid throughout the years this will maintain itself attach forever. For example, my mom always since I have memory attempts to eat dinner at the table with our whole family every day and I consider this has maintain us attach throughout life.

At times in life we found ourselves having internal conflicts where we will disown every single thing. In those moments maybe your mom felt alone and had a panic attack that you considered unnecessary to some extend. Then time passes by and in the most unexpected moments the hand of God appears through other people in the form of angels which makes you truly appreciate everything your mom has done for you.

This great and strong person in the form of an angel that I’m describing is Karen Taylor. She in particularly has helped me see how everything makes sense since there is great similarity between her and my mom. In order for me to arrive to that point I have to tell you a story first. My very first week at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I arrived wanting to have some fun. In the hallway of my dorm I was talking to some seniors on wheels, a few able-bodied, and Karen a graduated student that happened to be visiting that weekend. She was there for the weekend due to the fact that she missed campus. Plus, it was a last good bye to her friends before getting married and going off to live in the Dominican Republic. As a new student I wanted to explore and know which bars were the coolest. So she gave me a list of all her favorite bars and she even invited me to go check some out for the first time in Champaign. Once we were at the bars this one old guy saw me and a couple of others on wheels. Apparently we reminded him of his kid that had pass away so he was kind enough to give us 40 dollars. Karen bought us all tequila shots and a big fishbowl with the money. Once I was about to take my shot she scream, “Anuar’s first shot at UIUC”. In that moment I knew I had found my place in the world. All of those people I went out with that night until this day are my friends.

Let’s dive into the point, my friends in the dorm always do a bar crawl every year that contains five bars. That fun and meaningful night took place a couple weeks ago. Throughout the year me and Karen kept in touch I didn’t know why exactly but God already had his plan. A lot of students that have graduated usually come back to campus just for this bar crawl. To my fortune Karen came back from Dominican Republic. That night we talk a bit of everything plus we remembered that last time she was there. At the end of the night two people said goodbye one of them left running with tears in her eyes. So I roll it over to see what was going on with her. In that moment Karen fallowed me to ask me where I was going. So I told her I wanted to see what had happen because nobody deserves to cry. Right after that I begun to understand my mom when she started telling me if only you knew about the times I have cried in the Dominican Republic. I left everything my family, a culture, friends and I been trying to learn a new language to be with my husband. I feel lonely sometimes plus him and his family don’t understand me at times which frustrates me. But, I know I got stay strong and try hard despite having a few rough moments because all of this is part of an  adaptation process. It made sense I bet is common to feel like that when moving to a different country. All those things Karen left my mom left when we came to this country so her strength remind me how strong my mom has been. In my moms case she left everything for her whole family. It seems like an advantage for her at least she had her children to support her as well. But, we got caught up in our routine and our selfish actions didn’t allowed us to support my mom when she needed the most. However, my mom remained strong she never left us because of unconditional love. As far as Karen I gave her the fallowing advice: “Hanging in there keep on trying since this stuff has ups and downs but eventually you’ll get use to everything”.

Thanks to Karen I understood everything the why of every little thing and that sometimes I might be hurting my mom with my selfish actions. I fully appreciated my mom a year after I left her and this happens to a lot of children when they leave their moms. But, I am grateful with God that he gave me the opportunity to realize how selfish sometimes my family and I were to my mom. I now understand my mom’s frustration to learn english, what it was for her to leave a culture, a whole family, a stable home, a comfortable economic position, her needs to travel and even that desire she has of eating out at a restaurant every Sunday after church.

The greatest example of my moms huge love is the fact that she left everything and she continues to leave it behind with unconditional love towards a family that often didn’t appreciated. But, one day not too far from today God will paid her off for everything that she has done. For now, me and my siblings are about to finish a large ride of accomplish professions that started to get built on the moment both of my parents support it us by taking us to the pre-school “Crisol”.

I’m sorry mom I want to apologize for not being able to teach you english and not giving you my support when you needed the most. I want you and the people to know that moms like you aren’t found in this world too often but I’m glad God choose you to be my mother. I love you mom with my whole heart and from now on I want to enjoy every moment that I get to spend with you to the fullest instead of arguing over meaningless things. In the end respecting the law of life is truly worth it. Mom if I left it was for those reasons to make every single one of your sufferings worth it and to appreciate you even more.

Alright to close up, I want everyone reading this to know that all moms should be appreciated in every moment not only on Mother’s Day with a picture on Facebook or Instagram. These amazing human beings gave us life and they have a full time job for life with their children. Especially those moms that have a kid with a disability have a tougher job. Mothers are the ones that raise the leaders, presidents, teachers, professionals and examples of tomorrow so this job is the most important job out there. Importantly, those moms that are with you since day one deserve to be with you until the end. So if your reading this right now maintain your mom in your heart at all times, thank God for your mom every day of your life, and don’t forget to support her at all times.

———————————👇Version en Español👇———————————-

~Una mama como ninguna~

Uno realmente aprecia el esfuerzo de una madre cuando se marcha lejos del hogar. En este blog les explicare el gran impacto que a tenido mi mama en mi vida y la historia de el momento en el que mas la puedes realmente valorar. Ademas les quiero recordar la importancia que todos estos seres que nos dieron la vida tienen en el mundo y tambien quiero que sepan como se tienen que valorar de corazon todo el tiempo. Bueno pues rodemos♿!

Las madres legendarias siempre quieren mantener a los hijos en el hogar hasta el ultimo momento por temor a que el hijo sufra pero siempre llega un momento en el largo recorrer de la vida cuando una despedida es inevitable es simplemente la ley de la vida. La unidad entre una madre y un hijo depende del amor incodicional que el hijo recibe desde la raiz. Asi que si el lazo de unidad se mantiene solido atravez de los años este se mantendra unido para siempre. Por ejemplo mi mama siempre desde que tengo memoria trata de que toda la familia coma junta y eso nos a mantenido unidos a lo largo de la vida.

A veces la vida en distintos momentos te hara que se tengan conflictos internos quedras renegar en esos momentos en los que tu mama quiza se sintio sola e hiso un arrebato que consideraste hasta sierto punto inecesario. Luego en los momentos mas inesperados de la vida llega la mano de Dios atravez de otras personas en forma de angeles lo cual hase que valores lo que tu mama a echo por ti.

Esta gran persona fuerte de la que escribo se llama Karen Taylor ella en particular a echo que todo me haga sentido por su similitud a mi mama. Para llegar a ese punto les contare la siguiente historia. Mi primer semana en la Universidad de Illinois en Champaign llege con ganas de divertirme. En mi pasillo de mi dormitorio estaba platicando con un par de seniors en silla de ruedas, mas otros que caminan y Karen la graduada que estaba de visita. Ella estaba ahi por una semana ya que extrañaba la universidad solo queria despedirse ya que se casaria y se iria a vivir a la Republica Dominicana. Yo queria saber cuales bares estaban padres. Ella me dio una lista y mas aparte me invito a salir a los bares por primera vez en Champaign. Ya en el bar un señor nos vio a todos en las sillas y aparentemente le recordamos a su hijo el cual ya habia fallecido. En ese instante nos dio 40 dolares. Karen con el dinero nos compro shots de tequila y justo antes de yo tomarme el mio grito, “El primer shot de Anuar en Champaign”. En ese momento supe que ahi habia encontrado mi lugar en este mundo. Todas las personas con las que me sali ese dia aun son mis amigos hasta la fecha.

El verdadero chiste es que cada año mis amistades del dormitorio realizan una noche en la que se va a cinco bares. Esa noche se realizo hase un par de semanas. Durante todo el año yo y Karen hemos estado en contacto, era extraño no sabia el porque pero Dios tenia ya su plan. A esta noche estudiantes que ya se graduaron regresan solo para divertirse una gran noche. Para mi fortuna Karen regreso de Republica Dominicana para esas fechas. Esa noche ella y yo platicamos de todo un poco y recordamos la ultima vez que estubo ahi. Al final de la noche dos muchachos se despidieron y una muchacha se fue corriendo con lagrimas en los ojos. Yo rode asi ella queria saber que le pasaba. En ese momento Karen me siguio pregunto a donde iba. Yo le dije quiero saber que le pasa nadie merece llorar. Justo en ese instante comenze a entender a mi mama cuando ella me empezo a decir si supieras cuantas vez yo eh llorado en la Republica Dominicana. Lo deje todo mi familia, cultura, amigos y lenguaje por mi esposo. Me siento sola aveces luego ni el ni sus amigos y familia me entienden eso me frustra. Pero, seguire intentando y me mantendre fuerte apesar de esos momentos dificiles que en ratos tengo porque es parte de del proceso de adaptacion. Estoy seguro que ese es un sentimento comun de cuando la gente se va a otro pais. Todo eso que Karen dejo mi mama lo dejo  cuando nos venimos a este pais entonces su fortaleza me recordo lo fuerte que mi mama a sido. Pero, mi mama dejo todo por toda su familia y mi mama tan si quiera contaba con el apoyo de sus hijos pero que muchas veces por sus rutinas y acciones egoistas no se lo brindaron cuando mas lo necesito. Mi mama aguanto no se desespero por amor incodicional. Yo aconseje a Karen a seguir intentando le dije que tendria muchos altibajos pero que fuera paciente que todo estaria bien. Pronto te acostumbraras mas a todo le mencione.

Gracias a Karen llege a entender todo el porque de las cosas y que a veces he lastimado a una gran mama con mis acciones egoistas. Valore a mi mama completamente al año que me marche de ella y a muchos hijos tambien les sucede pero estoy tan feliz de que Dios me a dado la oportunidad de darme cuenta lo egoista que fui y hemos sido contigo mama. Ahora comprendo la frustrasion de mi mama al no saber ingles lo que fue para ella dejar una cultura, una familia entera, un hogar estable, una posicion economica relativamente comoda, su necesidad por viajar, y hasta sus ganas de siempre salir a comer despues misa.

El ejemplo mas grande de su gran amor es que todo lo dejo y lo sigue dejando atras con amor incondicional hacia una familia entera que a veces no lo supo valorar pero algun dia no muy lejano Dios se lo pagara. Por lo pronto yo y mis hermanos estamos por acabar un largo recorrido de carreras realizadas que se empesaron a construir desde que mi mama y mi papa nos brindaron su apoyo al llevarnos al kinder crisol.

Perdoname mama por no enseñarte ingles y no apoyarte cuando mas lo necesitaste. Quiero que sepas y las personas sepan que mamas como tu no estan en todos lados del mundo pero estoy tan agradecido con Dios que te eligio a ti especificamente para ser mi madre te amo con todo el corazon mama y de aqui en adelante aprovechare cada instante contigo en lugar de discutir por cosas inecesarias. Al final de cuentas vale la pena respetar la ley de la vida. Precisamente si me marche fue por eso para hacer que tus sufrimientos sean recompensados y para valorarte aun mas.

Bueno pues para cerrar, quiero que sepan que toda madre debe de ser valorada en todo momento realmente de corazon no solo el dia de las madres con una foto en facebook. Estos seres increibles nos dieron la vida y llevan un trabajo con sus hijos de por vida. Especialmente tienen un trabajo mas complicado aquellas madres que tienen hijos discapacitados. Las madres son las que crian a los lideres, maestros, presidentes, profesionales, y ejemplos del mañana asi que su trabajo es el mas importante. Especialmente esas mamas que te apoyan desde el principio merecen estar con uno hasta el final. Asi que si estas leyendo esto manten a tu mama en tu corazon siempre, agradecele a Dios todo lo que ella a echo por ti todos los dias de tu vida y no olvides apoyarla en todo momento.

The rules I roll by♿️👌🏼

Throughout my ride of life I have developed some simple rules to live by. Some of these rules help me stay strong in life and my own mistakes have made me identify most of these rules. In this blog…

Source: The rules I roll by♿️👌🏼

The rules I roll by♿️👌🏼

Throughout my ride of life I have developed some simple rules to live by. Some of these rules help me stay strong in life and my own mistakes have made me identify most of these rules. In this blog, I will be sharing all of my useful rules. Alright, let’s roll.

1. Never eat a taco, without salsa.

2. Pray every night and identify your goals. Doing so will help you maintain focus towards achieving them.

3. Face life with a smile and always have a wink ready.

4. Take it easy when you are drinking alcohol with a straw because you don’t want to end up like this guy below👇.

5. Think before you speak more often.

6. Think before you ink.

7. Travel the world when you have the chance to do so.

8. Defend yourself by running people over (if you happen to be lucky enough to be in a wheel chair of course).

9. Girls tend to come and go. Therefore, concentrate on making yourself happy first.

10. Be careful, when giving rides to multiple girls out there it might get intense.

11. To every bad situation there is always a positive side that can be found. Look for it, enjoy it, and thank God.

12. Never judge others so give yourself the opportunity to know all kinds of people out there.

13. Roll with the suit and tie swag as often as possible.

14. If you are sitting in a wheelchair. Always buy expensive shoes, because they will never get dirty/old.

15. Help out others in need when you have the chance. Helping others can give you some of the best feelings in life.

16. Always believe in yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you what you are capable of achieving. That only depends on you!

17. Dance and spin your wheels around whenever you get the chance to do so.

18. Live with no worries. Always remember that you know what you want but only God knows what you NEED! God will take care of everything you just got to trust him!

19. Always make sure you smell/look good even if you don’t have a reason. The reason should always be YOU!

20. Do fast donuts with your power wheelchair when you get bored.

21. When your in need of an advice, talk to your family or your most loved ones.

22. Never be afraid to ask for help. (If its possible ask the cute girls 😉

23. Stop waiting for a perfect moment, just take that moment and make it perfect.

24. Always try to find the opportunity to talk to those pretty Asian girls. (Sorry, I have a thing for Asian girls)

25. Never lose hope.

26. Tequila can be too powerful.

27. Pain doesn’t last forever, but the lessons learned while you are in pain do!

28. Live like there is no ‪tomorrow‬‬.

29. Always keep on taking chances. The chances that you don’t take today you will regret them ‪tomorrow‬‬.

30. Try to spend as much time as possible with those who make you smile.

31. Eat a Reese’s every time you accomplish a task like doing homework.

If your reading this blog right now I strongly want to challenge you to make yourself a list of all the rules you have developed by your mistakes. It makes you actually realize all your mistakes, so that you avoid going through the same pain all over again. Plus it can make you notice the actions and things that make you enjoy life. Overall, remember that life is about making mistakes but the important thing is that we actually learn from them. Always keep in mind that no lessons would be learned if we made no mistakes. Life is too short so make sure you enjoy it!

Are people with disabilities inspirations for the society?

Enactment is being the proof of an argument. I’m ready to show through this blog and my life, that people with disabilities’ can simply be the proof of an argument. Most individuals on …

Source: Are people with disabilities inspirations for the society?

Are people with disabilities inspirations for the society?

Enactment is being the proof of an argument. I’m ready to show through this blog and my life, that people with disabilities’ can simply be the proof of an argument. Most individuals on wheels argue at society that they aren’t inspirations. They claim to simple be living life at the fullest like everyone else. This is true, but we cannot ignore the fact that society can tell right away that we have a physical challenge.

In other words I’m describing material identification. This is when society can see that a person is part of something based on a physical characteristic. If us that roll on wheels achieve important goals. Anyone can tell that we are managing to accomplish these goals despite the obvious challenges we were given. Indivuals on wheels and able-bodied people are all a part of overcoming challenges because life presents challenges to each and everyone of us.

However, it’s easier for people to notice a life challenge when coming across someone that “rolls” through life. They can easily see that he or she is overcoming a life challenge. In this world we all are equal and we all have challenges. Some are physically obvious and others are hiding behind a smile. But, anyone can focus on proving that their challenge won’t stop them from living a good unique happy successful life.

Therefore, If I’m writing blogs and a book about my life. It doesn’t mean that my goal is to be an inspiration. I simply want to be a living example that proves the fact that overcoming adversity and equality is possible with the love of God. If utilizing my passion for writing and giving speeches or having conversations with strangers is what will take me to be that kind of person that’s the route I’ll take my wheels through.

On a final note, here is the answer to the question in the title of this blog: Us on wheels AREN’T necessarily inspirations. However, if we reach all of our goals we can easily turn into examples and show others around us that we are the living proof of the following argument: “Challenges shouldn’t stop any human being from reaching anything in life and being happy”

BIG SUPPORT TOWARDS ACCEPTANCE.

Today is one of my favorite days of the year and it always makes me want to celebrate God’s gift of life. However, life shouldn’t only be celebrated one day each year, instead every day of our lives. The International Day Of Acceptance takes place every January 20th and I’m proud to celebrate this special day. On previous blogs I’ve shown my love for the symbol of a stick figure dude sitting on wheels and if you know me, you know how much I love it. This symbol promotes society to accept those on wheels as equal people. Also it encourages individuals to accept their lives no matter what their circumstances are and to live life to the very fullest. In this blog, I’ll share an awesome experience, the way others should support the acceptance of individuals in any condition and the power it has on their lives. Okay, let’s roll.

Ten years ago I moved into this amazing country. For years, I wanted to visit the Mexico I left behind. However, I was afraid since most parts of my country are not wheelchair friendly. Although, when I met this symbol of acceptance I discovered I shouldn’t let my circumstances stop me from doing anything in life. This is because I know I’m equal to those able-bodied individuals. My whole life I have fought to achieve everything I’ve dream for and one of my dreams was to go back to Mexico and visit my family.

I had the dream to visit Mexico because of it’s food, because almost all my family is there and because all of my childhood memories remain on that country. The street where I used to live means a lot to me because all of my cousins used to live there as well. That was a street that unified people by strong feelings and blood. A street where I used to play everyday after school. A street where all my cousins, aunts, and uncles breath an equal air. A street that contains my pink house at the end of it. A two floor house with a clothing workshop in the back. A house that took my parents lots of effort to built. A house my family and I left behind to look for better opportunities for myself. A house we left in order to search for better lands. Lands full of immigrants with dreams to reach. Lands where everyone has an equal chance to get to the top. Lands where disable individuals have equal opportunities. Lands where my currently home is at. I’ve missed all the toys in the shape of action figures I had at my old home. I’ve missed all the laughs I had from playing in the street. I’ve missed the days spent kicking a ball in my garage with my cousins. I’ve missed all those friendly punches in the sofa with my brother. I’ve missed those loud family reunions at my uncle’s basement. As of now missing all of that has paid off. As of now I’m making the best out of the opportunities this country offers. As of now my school graduation is closer. As of now I’m closer towards achieving my American dream.

But despite all of that, I never forgot my Mexico even after several years of not going there I kept it on a corner of my heart. For that reason me and my family worked very hard to achieve the dream of me visiting Mexico. Finally after ten years, I went to roll on through my Mexican lands. I didn’t go to my actual homeland but I went to the beach. On that place I found multiple hills, shoes hanging on the cables on the streets, vans that were not wheelchair accessible, narrow side walks, lots of family and most importantly pure acceptance towards me.

Yes I found pure acceptance towards individuals on wheels even in a country where opportunities are not the same towards those with disabilities. The first day I arrived there in order to get in and out of a van they used a table as a ramp but I got into the van. They used the resources they had available in order to make it accessible despite my circumstances. Furthermore, my big family met up with me at the beach and they showed me acceptance as well. We all got a tattoo of the symbol of acceptance. First, five of my cousins got it and then all of them did it. But also, I felt accepted and supported by every family member and they all made my Mexico a more wheelchair friendly place. Proving that working together nothing is impossible to those on wheels. There wasn’t a wheelchair to go on the sand but there were strong hands willing to carry me there. I’m very fortunate to have such a supportive family back in my loved lands. They never forgot about me even though I spent ten years without seeing most of them.

This is a small example that shows the power of accepting those on wheels. When able-bodied individuals accept people with disabilities they are helping them to accomplish their dreams despite their circumstances. It seemed impossible for me to go in to the sand or to even visit Mexico. However, my big family took two letters out of the word “impossible” making my dream, “possible”. That’s exactly what can happen in any country across the world if you truly accept everyone as equal. So, I encourage you that are reading this right now to accept everyone as equal and help them overcome their struggles with all the resources you are bless with. The difference that you’ll make on their lives is huge! If you are really passionate about this kind of stuff challenge yourself and make a bigger difference by dedicating your work towards making every country have the same opportunities to everyone. Furthermore, if you have a disability or any condition all you have to do is never give up towards achieving your goals no matter what, and accept yourself with everything God gave you. Overall, let’s enjoy this ride of life to the fullest and don’t forget to thank God for each day that you get to wake up.

 

Being part of a community.

Feeling that you belong in a place full of acceptance where everyone supports you is an emotion that each of us should feel. This feeling I’m describing I was able to feel it in the moment that I became part of the Beckwith community at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In this blog I will define a community, how should a community be run, and I’ll share my personal experience with a community. Okay, let’s roll♿.

A community is a group of individuals that share common goals, believes, interests and ideas. Each of these individuals in this group has to be committed towards achieving their goals together in order to be considered a community. Communities in today’s society mostly are businesses, nonprofit organizations, churches, sports teams and school clubs.

People that belong to a community should feel connected to each other by their goals. They all have to count equally and this group of people has to respect the ideas of each other within their community. All new ideas that will help the group achieve their goal are always important. Communication is key for a community to run in a successful way. Every member of this group has to be able to open their ears to listen each other carefully and they have to trust others in order to express their ideas with respect. Only then they will be able to grow together and achieve their common goals. Dwight Eisenhower 34th president of the United States was an effective leader. He once said, “This world of ours must avoid being a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect”.

Many communities are not as successful as they could be because it’s members loss interest on their goals. Every community needs warriors that have a passion and a commitment towards reaching their shared goal. This is the reason businesses and organizations conduct interviews to deeply analyze the new members level of commitment towards their goals. Very often in these interviews they ask: Why are you interested on the job? This is the way of seeing if they share the same goal.

On August of this 2015, I begun my journey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In this university they have a program for people with disabilities like me. It is known as Beckwith. Twenty six residents with disabilities, three disability specialists, and many personal assistants belong to this awesome community. The shared goal of this community is to get people with disabilities to achieve their own independence. Those three disability specialists help you and they teach you how to hire personal assistants. Their personal assistants are always willing to give a hand to the twenty six residents that live in the Beckwith hallway at Nugent Hall. Generally the personal assistants are students looking to gain experience working with others that have disabilities. Everybody works together towards achieving independence and once the residents graduate they are able to live on their own by hiring personal assistants.

In the Beckwith community there is a sense of connection and I haven’t felt alone on my journey towards independence. There are twenty five other residents with similar conditions going through the exact same journey. In every bump I have had along the journey their is always someone to help me get through it. In the Beckwith community, no question is too dumb to be ask. Their is always a huge support from every member of the community. I feel grateful to belong to such a supportive community that does everything to give me my independence and freedom. In the Beckwith community, as your personal assistants get to know you they are able to see the person and not the wheelchair. They accept you for who you are. In this community everyone made sure of having a wheelchair friendly campus where those on wheels can roll anywhere they want. It’s thanks to communities like this one that America is known as the sea of the opportunities. This community has made UIUC the best university in the nation for those with disabilities. Many of my friends on wheels have come from California, Maryland, Alabama and other states because of the amazing Beckwith program. I wish more countries and states in America had this programs to guide those on wheels towards reaching independence.

Becoming a part of this community was not easy for me I had to work hard and improve my grades in order to be achieve that. They were multiple steps towards getting there. I had multiple interviews where they made sure that I was committed to the goal of achieving independence. Now I’m thankful of belonging to this community and every day I’m trying to make the best out of it.

Overall, becoming a part of a community is awesome and I highly suggest you to do so. It helps others to find individuals with same interests, goals, ideas, and feelings. This can leave you with a sense of belonging and give you strength. You will discover your not alone towards achieving your goals. In the future the people you meet in that community will be there to support you. There is a lot of communities waiting for you to walk or roll into them. These are clubs at schools, summer camps, businesses, volunteering opportunities, sport teams, sororities, fraternities and church groups. Get involve, built strong communities where you and others can grow as a person together. Lastly, I want to challenge you to help build more communities like Beckwith in all universities out there. So that more people on wheels can roll together towards their independence and achieve all their goals.