Day 288

You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. – Dr. Phil C. McGraw

It’s 8: 35 PM on day 288 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – read Love That Max and Ryn’s Tale Book of Days: Livin to the point of tears – my goodness there are some FANTASTIC parents out there –  watch TV while feeding myself an egg sandwich for brunch, watch some TV while exercising, publish My Book Self – a new page on this blog which will feature all the books that I can remember reading over the course of my twenty year life – feed myself rice and curry for dinnerand brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday evening while I was editing and adding new books to My Book Shelf I couldn’t help but notice that all but four of the books that I had ever read were romance novels and in that moment I had an epiphany I was looking for love in guys – both fictional and real – because I did not feel loved by father and to remedy that I told myself what I wished my father had told me you’re beautiful I am so proud of you. Are you in denial about what you need?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 283

Being a parent is about allowing your children to be who they truly are– that’s what I learned today

It’s 8: 58 PM on day 283 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, read Love That Max, Chasing Rainbow and Outrageous Fortune – the first two blogs I read I’ve read a few times while I had never even heard of the third although I have to admit it was really heart-warming to read about this woman’s appreciation of her husband before I read that post I really thought that marriage was just another form of imprisonment but after reading that I’m beginning to change my mind – watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck but I am hopeful because someone promised to make a donation later today – feed myself grilled fish, potatoes and salad for dinner, and brush my teeth once more.

Today after my brother left for school in tears my mother came into my room and said I should stop asking him what J’s – his friend’s – marks are maybe that’s why he’s sad and in that moment I was SO angry that I said you love your children for what they can do and not who they are to which she responded if that was true I wouldn’t love you which suffice to say hurt my feelings. Do you love your children for who they truly are or for what they can do to bolster your image in society’s eyes?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 265

You should be yourself at any cost – that’s what I learned today

It’s 7: 17 PM on day 265 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Oats for breakfast, publish my Kid of the Week feature, open a packet of chips –three days in a row – I am SO happy – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign –no luck but on the plus side Bonnie (@bonnie67) did write about my campaign in her latest blog post – thanks Bonnie – feed myself chocolate muffins for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday lying on my bed waiting to fall asleep I remembered something my mother had said to me moments earlier aunty L (that’s what we’re going to call her for the purpose of this blog) said she only wanted to talk to you and not us and I was just wondering if that was because she read the stuff you wrote on your blog to which I gave no response and she continued please don’t write about the fights that go on in this house… it’s embarrassing and you know what I have to say to that life is not a fairytale and although you can make me a virtual prisoner in my own home you cannot make me edit myself just to make you look good. Are you willing to change yourself at the drop of a hat just because other people don’t like what you say or do?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

if you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 259

Rules are a cautious person’s excuse for not participating in life – that’s what I learned today

It’s 7: 15 PM on day 259 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign –no luck – read and leave comments on Connor’s Song and A Deaf Mom Shares Her World – both very inspirational blogs about life, love and overcoming the odds – feed myself a polony sandwich for breakfast, watch TV, email Kidz – a disability website – my story – holding thumbs that they’ll publish it – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch some more TV, feed myself Pizza for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Today I stumbled onto an article called 30 Things A Woman Should Not Try Before 30 and while I did agree with some of the things on that list I believe that rules are highly overrated so I say live your life the way you want to as long as you don’t hurt yourself or anybody else in the process because at end of the day the best things in life are unplanned. Have you sucked all the fun out of your life by walking around with a checklist in the back of your mind?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

if you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 252

You can turn all the negativity in your life into fuel – that’s what I learned today

It’s 7: 07 PM on day 252 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, practice wheeling myself around – it took me two hours to get from the center of the dining room to the kitchen but that’s okay I’ll practise every day and get a little further each time – feed myself chicken hotdogs for breakfast, watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign –no luck –

Today while I was practising how to get around the house by myself my hands were red and my arms felt like they were about to fall off and I wanted to quit with every fibre off my being but in that moment I decided to do something I’ve never done before close my eyes and think about all the people in my life who have hurt me – my father who is ashamed of me, my mother who constantly refers to me as “sick” and my sister who says with attitude I’m sorry you ended up in a wheelchair every time I tell her that I’m having a bad day – and before I knew it I was two steps away from the kitchen feeling grateful for the fact that I didn’t quit because I realized that I was all I had. Is all the negativity that surrounds you poisoning you or nourishing you?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://www.twitter.com/nisha360

if you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 243

If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can’t buy. – Author Unknown

It’s 8: 56 PM on day 243 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to go open a bank account – my father was in such a rush that I didn’t even have time to brush my teeth but when we got to FNB the staff were so pleasant that it almost made the stress of getting there worth it the woman who helped us didn’t even mind that my signature was far from perfect so to the staff at FNB in Vincent Park, East London I say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE EXEMPLARY SERVICE… YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME – make sandwiches for the people in our housekeeper’s neighbourhood (if you have no idea what I am talking about refer to ‘Day 184’) – after weeks of not making sandwiches due to the fact that our housekeeper’s son had died we were back making sandwiches once again although I didn’t do much of anything except take slices of bread out of the packet and hand it to her – she was running late and both of us decided that it would be quicker if she made the sandwiches but I didn’t mind because I was doing something – feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and Kadala Curry – made of brown chickpeas – for lunch, start to prepare my Kid of the Week feature for tomorrow, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and Kadala Curry – made of brown chickpeas – for dinner, brush my teeth, watch TV and continue to prepare my Kid of the Week feature for tomorrow.

This morning I woke up thirty minutes before my brother and just watched him sleep for the longest while thinking about the fact that Lauren – Brennan’s sister – would never again get to watch her brother sleep and feeling grateful that my brother was healthy and alive because although I often feel like killing my brother I live with the knowledge that I would kill for him in the blink of an eye. Are you the richest poor person around or the poorest rich person around?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://www.twitter.com/nisha360

if you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nisha-varghese/nishavarghese

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 235

Your talent allows you to show yourself as you truly are – that’s what I learned today.

It’s 8: 25 PM on day 235 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – no luck – attempt peeling an orange – I only succeeded in stabbing all the juice out of it (Note to self: Must practice cutting and peeling an orange) – feed myself an orange for dinner, play wrestling with my brother – Brennan’s death has taught me that life is too short not to get down on my brother’s level and play with him – continue to tweet about my campaign – still no luck – and brush my teeth once more.

Today I was chatting with my friend via Facebook and she said having read this blog yesterday wow, you inspire me and in that moment I realized that the reason I loved writing so much was because people saw my soul rather than my body when they read what I wrote. When you do whatever it is you do are you able to show yourself as you truly are?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://www.twitter.com/nisha360

if you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nisha-varghese/nishavarghese

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 229

You’ve gotta cut people some slack sometimes – that’s what I learned today

It’s 9: 05 PM on day 229 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself bread and scrambled eggs for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck –prepare my Kid of the Week feature – this week’s edition tugged at my heartstrings and proved to me that it’s never too late or too early to start making a difference – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – still no luck –play some board games and card games with my siblings and guests – it was SO much fun – feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for dinner and watch TV.

Today some people came to visit and it wasn’t until they left that it occurred to me that the adults barely spoke a complete sentence to me and in that moment I realized that people don’t know how to interact with disabled people without being awkward about it so I decided to give you some pointers on how to behave around the forgotten members of society:

Do’s and Don’ts of Dealing with Disabled People

• Make eye contact
• Smile
• If you don’t know what interests him/her then just ask
• Don’t talk about him/her talk to them. For instance, if you’re wondering if he/she wants juice ask him/her and not whoever is with him/her
• Don’t make assumptions about his/her capabilities if you’re unsure about whether he/she can do something just ask

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nisha-varghese/nishavarghese

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 223

The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them. – Frank A. Clark

It’s 10: 05 PM on day 223 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Appam – A bread made of rice batter – and beef curry for breakfast and spend Easter lunch and dinner with my family (see pictures below).

Today lying on a mattress in my aunt’s TV room I heard that my cousin’s nine-year-old daughter was getting her father’s ‘old’ BlackBerry and in that moment I couldn’t help feeling as though my cousin and her husband were missing a trick with regards to their parenting because in the twenty years that I’ve been alive I’ve never owned an ordinary cellphone let alone a BlackBerry and not because I didn’t want one either but because I wanted to wait until I could pay for it myself. Are you spoiling your children by giving them everything they want on a silver platter?

My geandma and I

My grandma sleeping (I love this picture it's so cute)

My cousin's son – Shaun

My cousin’s daughter – Shannon

My sister – Neethu

Day 222

The only way to survive in this life is to accept it the way it is – that’s what I learned today

It’s 6: 47 PM on day 222 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – watch a few Youtube videos – Christina Grimmie #5 on my ‘10 Most Talented Youtubers’ list (if you have no idea what I am talking about refer to ‘Day 159’) will be touring with Selena Gomez during the American summer – I am SO for her – feed myself rice and curry for lunch and tweet about my campaign some more – still no luck God knows it’s not for a lack of trying – feed myself rice and curry for dinner, continue to tweet about my campaign – today is just not my day hopefully someone will take pity on me and donate after I go to sleep LOL – and watch TV

This morning my aunt called from Kuwait and I heard her say to my mom if you’re planning on going back to India after you retire you should buy a flat in Ernakulam –the western part of the mainland of Kochi city in Kerala, India – there no one will say anything if you bring Nisha and at first I felt like a freak then I was outraged by the fact that she thought I was going to live with my parents forever considering I planned to make my own money, get married and have kids but after a couple of hours had passed I realized that I had to find a way to deal with the fact that most people would always discriminate against me. Are you resisting the circumstances of your life thereby making it more difficult for yourself to survive?