Society often frames disability and chronic illness as the result of personal failure—a lack of willpower, a moral shortcoming, or irresponsibility. If only we tried harder, if only we pushed through the pain, if only we accepted that the systems built for the non-disabled majority should rightfully exclude us for the so-called greater good. This has become the quiet, unspoken mantra of the many.
But here’s the unshakable truth: you can live with unrelenting integrity, responsibility, and care—and still be disabled. Disability is not a verdict on character. It’s not something earned or deserved. It’s a reality that can touch anyone, no matter how virtuous or determined they are.
It’s so odd when people say they don’t let their illness define or limit them. Do they think the rest of us simply surrender, letting our illnesses strip everything away without resistance?
We celebrate the disabled people who defy every barrier, who “overcome” every challenge, every limitation, every impossible obstacle. But who cheers for those who spend everything they have just to take the next step, who wrestle with pain and fatigue to survive another day? Who celebrates the quiet, unseen victories of simply enduring when endurance itself feels impossible?
Are we somehow less because our bodies are different—because they are fragile, damaged, or simply function in ways you don’t understand? Is our worth diminished simply because of the way we are built? Does our ability to contribute to this world become meaningless because our mobility, dexterity, or appearance defies your narrow expectations?
The answer to these questions lies not in us but in you. Your choice to withhold compassion, to deny empathy, to strip us of the dignity every human being deserves — that was your decision. Your refusal to acknowledge our God-given right to pursue life, happiness, and meaning — that choice was entirely yours.
It speaks volumes, not about our value in the grand scheme of things, but about yours.
