Who are you....

Have you ever said to yourself, “If they really knew me, they would understand me so much more?” The question is who are you? Who is the person that you want people to know? I’m not talking about the surface you where you share things like your favorite color, zodiac sign, your favorite thing to do, or your favorite scent. Not that stuff - the deep down stuff that makes you who you are. Your victories, struggles, and heartache- your layers peeled back. Cerebral palsy is not something that I chose. It was something God gave to me. People see me and they tend to focus on my limitations and not what makes me who I am. People see me smiling, laughing, talking loud, and always encouraging someone, but how did I get here? I didn't always love myself. I always saw something wrong with me because of the way other people would look at me. But here is the kicker, my dad didn't want anything to do with me and my cousin tried to touch me and have sex with me. How do you handle that when you’re still trying to figure out who you are? Fast forward to middle/high school, I suffered with suicidal thoughts and depression because I was trying to fit in but what I was doing was not me. How do you find your voice when everything around you is so loud? You lock yourself in the bathroom and you try to kill yourself with whatever is there that will make the pain go away, but that didn’t work. I asked God, "why won't you just let me die?" God said to me, "Who are you?" "Honestly God, I don’t know. All I know is that I’m the disabled girl that everyone says is pretty, cool to be around, that likes to write and help people." "Use your talents to discover you not what other people say about you." From that moment on I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery, peeling back layers daily. In order for people to know who you really are, you have to stop running from yourself and discover who you are by exploring yourself. Then others will be able to embrace you for who you are. Stop hiding from yourself. Who you are is what makes you great. Love, Eboni p