Hard Work and Accepting Help

So, I said in my last post that I would identify four principles that I try and live by to have hope, or as the title of my blog implies, to help me Reach Anyway -Or more appropriately to help all of us reach anyway. I will identify each principle in an individual blog post.
The first principle is that of hard work. Now, I will admit that I have a long way to go at living this principle perfectly, because I, like most of us, don't associate hard work with FUN! Sometimes on my road to independence, it has been like pulling teeth for my parents to get me to do something for my own good. At times it still is. I consider myself quite fortunate that they haven't thrown me out of the house by my ear yet! (However, the jury is still out on that one) Back to serious matters, I would say that although I have had rough patches I have tried and succeeded in having an optimistic attitude in general. I think my parents would say the same despite my resistance to their well intention-ed efforts. It has taken very hard work, not only on the physical battlefields of my life, but on the mental battlefields. One of my challenges that is not so obvious to people, is that I suffer from clinical depression. Some people see it as a label if they admit that they need assistance in that way. Somehow they think it is their fault, or in other words, something they did. I believe in most cases it is either something that happened to them in their past, or simply a chemical imbalance as has been medically studied and proven. As such, this line of thought led me to believe for a time that I was worthless. This feeling of helplessness was most acute, I believe, during my final year of high school. Most of my friends were gone. I felt insecure as to my future. I felt bad because I was so physically dependent on the good will of others and I wasn't sure what to do. However, my dad, who is a physician, recognized the symptoms and said, "Well lets try and see if we can get this medically treated." I resisted, but for my dad's hard work he helped me although I didn't realize it at the time. He helped me win the mental battle that I had been fighting with for years. It is hard to accept help from many people, but if you struggle or know someone who struggles there is no shame in receiving help. It is not a sign of weakness.
Work comes in many different forms. Right now what I have to work with is my physical challenges. Now whatever your challenge is ask yourself is it reaching for that next step? Are you afraid to reach up and haul yourself up over that first step because there will just be another obstacle on the other side? If you are I completely understand. But work does pay off although you may not think so at the time. How does it pay off? Well, i'll give you a short example. If I had not worked through the coaxing or most of the time through the forcing me to do hard work, I would not be able to help you right here right now. And that is a satisfying result of the hard work I have done.
Jacob Everrette Head

What is Hope?

My purpose in publishing this blog, "Reaching Anyway," is to, hopefully, assist others through their challenges and through their trials. Let's face it, trials and problems come to everyone of us throughout our lives in one form or another. Some may seem, or may be, more severe than others. One of my own great challenges, for those that know me, is physical in nature. I am unable to walk because I have quadriplegic cerebral palsy. This is easily seen by everyone or, I should say, the effects of cerebral palsy are seen by everyone. Because of this, most people whom I encounter try to be, at the very least, understanding. But most of us, that is to say, most people do not struggle with something so obvious and so apparent. I would venture to say the vast majority of problems that people face are unseen by others. Perhaps it may be that your parents have divorced. Perhaps it may be that you grew up in a less than ideal home. Perhaps it may be academic in nature, that is to say you always struggled in school due to a range of factors that were almost completely or were completely out of your control. Perhaps it may be that you lost a parent or a spouse to death. There are countless other challenges that people face everyday. I have listed only a few. Those challenges are there for a reason. I have no doubt because they help us to grow and to understand who we are. At times it may seem that something that is happening to us is unfair. We may ask, "Why me? Why did this have to happen to me?" I myself have wondered this many times in my life about my own challenges. Why do I have what is commonly referred to as a physical disability? Why do people who do not know me have to look at me with strange, uncomfortable looks on their faces or talk to me as if I was four when I was ten, fifteen, and currently 20? My answer: I have learned that my so called, "disability" is in fact a blessing given to me by God to try and help other people. Now, am I always perfect in remembering that? No, my family could tell you that right off the bat. So, in summary, my hope with this blog is to show you how I have learned to use my "disability" as an ability. I will identify four principles I try to operate by to help people, even with my limitations. I hope you join me in this journey together.
Jacob Everett Head