Empowering vs. Crippling
Empowering vs. Crippling With everything happening in our political world—and the recent government shutdown—I felt inspired to share my story. Life often comes down to one choice: sink or swim. I’ve been there. I’ve seen every diagnosis imaginable in my medical records—bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder. For years, people crippled me with their labels. They treated me like I was my disability, and for a long time, I used that as a crutch. When people treat you like a disability, you start to believe it. Even my own mother once told me I was too mentally ill to go to college. It broke me—but it didn’t stop me. The only people who believed in me were my high school teachers and college professors, and I give them full credit for seeing my potential. At my lowest, I applied for SSI and Section 8. But let me tell you—being denied was one of the greatest blessings of my life. That moment pushed me to choose empowerment over victimhood, ambition over p...