It's All in the Title

You don't know this person; but this person represents a lot of things.

This is someone with a learning disability;
This is that boy in school that got bullied every single day;
This is the woman who just walked away from an abusive relationship;
This is that guy who recently lost his job and can now barely afford to keep the roof over his and his family's head;
This is a student who just failed her first class and is afraid to face her parents with the news;
This is someone who cheated on their spouse and is now afraid of losing the best thing they ever had;
This is that teen who was told, "No, you can't come home."
This is the genius disguised as a homeless bum because he can't catch a break.;
This is someone who has been told he won't live to see his child grow up because he has Cancer;
This is someone who is afraid.

The other day I was talking to someone about my passion for writing, a subject I can go on and on about. I told him how I not only enjoy scribbling down the stories playing throughout my head but that I also felt writing to be very therapeutic. I told this person that through writing I believe we can learn, grow and heal; and exercising the imagination with pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) can be good for the soul.
At this point of the conversation I was asked about how I came to choosing the title "Challenging Barriers". The explanation I gave was this: As much as writing this blog may have sprung up from my brain injury, and as much as I litter my posts with stories about my life and my opinions, Challenging Barriers is only a teenie-tiny bit about me. Challenging Barriers is a universal thing I think everyone feels or goes through or lives with.

The image above is accompanied by a list that can go on and on. (just like me talking about my writing) We all have our Challenging Barriers. They are all different, and in some ways, all the same. We have to leap frog them, go around them, beat them back....... acknowledge them....... and sometimes even embrace them. And I say them because I mean them, as in more than one. Because I'm not just talking about a disability or illness, I'm also referring to the ones mentioned above and those that aren't there, like someone who juggles two jobs to make ends meet and also lives with constant migraines or someone feeling all alone.

Some of our barriers we are able to shake and walk away from, some drift in and out of our lives, some change, some we live with forever. But just as we have, in some form or another, those Challenging Barriers in common....... we also share something else. That something else is depicted in that imagine above, in that "someones" hands. It is hope. And that idea of hope is transformed into an object we can use, or something that we do or have in our lives. That hope gives us light, clarity, happiness, and strength. It allows us to face, stare down, and deal with our barriers.

Some of my "tools of hope" are: family, friends, and writing........ and chocolate ice cream helps too. :)

I believe we are all stronger than we give ourselves credit, but we also all need a little help sometimes, or even just an ear to tug. If you don't feel like you have that, I'm always here, pretty easy to find. I don't mind being one of your "tools" when dealing with those pesky Challenging Barriers.
Because Challenging Barriers are just that, challenging; not the end of the road. And no one should have to face the challenge alone.