Negativity + Determination = Success

Today, I watched a "Ted Talk" by a woman named Lizzie Velasquez. Lizzie was born with an extremely rare condition that prevents her from gaining any weight, and she has never weighed more than 60-something pounds in her whole life. Because of her condition, Lizzie does not fit into society's description of what a "beautiful" person should look like. She has faced a lot of bullies and negativity throughout her life. In fact, a few years ago, Lizzie found a youtube video of herself naming her the "world's ugliest woman". Lizzie has a determination inside her that often I feel inside myself.  Lizzie's determination to succeed was driven by all of the negativity in her life, all of the people who said she couldn't do something, all of the people who didn't believe in her. So Lizzy set goals for herself. And you know what she did? She accomplished them. She graduated college, wrote books, and became a motivational speaker, all things people thought she could never do. 

After being in a wheelchair the last three years, I've encountered a lot of negativity. Everything from being told by my high school to drop out of my junior year and "try again the next year", to residence life at my college telling me that I wasn't allowed to have a roommate because I was in a wheelchair. By the way, I won both of those battles. Not only did I not drop out of high school my junior year, I graduated ON TIME with my class, and with decent grades to boot! And at that graduation ceremony, even after breaking my ankle 2 months prior, and just getting cleared to put weight on my foot earlier that week, I walked across that stage, walker and cast in tow, to receive my diploma that I was so incredibly determined to earn. And the best feeling in the world had to be seeing every single person that had caused so much negativity in my life STANDING and clapping for me, because I showed them that I was not going down without a fight. And in fact, I had won the fight. I proved them wrong. And that made all of the Saturday morning tutoring sessions, the times when I was so exhausted I just wanted to give up, and even the whispers in the hallway, worth it. 

Now, the roommate in college was a battle that nobody saw coming. I figured I'd just have trouble getting my roommate to understand what some of my issues were, and getting her to respect my space. I never thought I'd actually have to fight to even be placed in the same room as another person. Because to me, I was still Caroline. I didn't see the handicapped girl in the wheelchair who came with many challenges and problems attached. But what I did see was the fun-loving goofy girl who had been through a rough time, but could rock that pink wheelchair of hers. So when I was told I was not allowed to have a roommate my FRESHMAN year in college. I was absolutely devastated. They were discriminating against me. Why was I not allowed the same opportunities as every other college freshman? So I fought. And I wrote multiple emails. And eventually, I got them to see my point of view. I did end up with a roommate, and although it wasn't the best roommate match, I'm so glad I had the experience. If I had the chance to do it all again, I probably would. 

Lizzie uses the negativity in her life to fuel her success. I've used the negativity in my life to fuel my success. If you do the same, I can almost promise that you will succeed. 

Finally, about a year before I was sick, while trying my best to pass a class that my teacher told me to drop, I saved a fortune from a fortune cookie. It reads "The greatest pleasure in life is doing that which others say you cannot do." It was so relevant to my struggle in that class and I kept it taped on my binder for the rest of the year. When that class ended, I taped that fortune on the bookshelf next to my bed. Every night I read that quote before I go to bed and it feeds my drive to succeed. 

And by the way, I passed that class.



Click here to watch Lizzie's Ted Talk. She is truly inspiring and motivational.