Additional Needs

Look at the Positives

Posted by Amy Sweeney on 19th February 2019 Additional Needs, Advice & Support, Disabilities

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This could be a tough one but I’m writing to ask you to look at the positives.

Some people may think, why is that going to be tough?

Surely there’s always a positive in any situation?

But as a parent, carer, family member or friend of a child with additional needs there are days (many, many days!) where you just can’t see it, no matter how hard you try.

Seizures, inability to walk, pain every day, constant medications, constant therapy, diary full of appointments.

These are just a few examples of what we have to “deal with”

I can assure you there IS something positive, always.

Close your eyes for a minute, think of that one person you know with a disability.

Now I want you try and forget about the difficulties they face, I want you to forget about the difficulties YOU face too.

Keep your eyes closed and remember their first ever smile, remember that milestone that you cried over when they achieved it, no matter how small it was and remember the love you felt for them when they came into your life.

I can’t tell you that things will one day be easier for you or for them.

For some that may not be true but I can tell you that when you’re having a particularly hard day just try and take one minute or even 30 seconds out of your day to close your eyes, take a deep breath and look back at that one good day you had, remember those precious moments where you bonded and where you felt pride in something they did that once seemed impossible.

To stay positive can quite often seem like a huge effort but in all honesty, if I didn’t try to see the positives at the end of a hard day then I would struggle, I mean really struggle.

So I urge you to do the same and I promise you, it will help.

Some people think that being strong means having big muscles or that you can lift something heavy but the truth is, being strong means that you power through each day doing whatever you have to move forward and to do that, you need the right mindset, a negative mind will only make your struggles seem even harder.