When I was ready to kick-start my journey to develop and grow my self-confidence as a person with a disability, I knew I needed some inspiration and motivation in my home.
One June morning in 1992. I remember that because I had learned that I was going to be an uncle and I knew I needed to get out of my funk and I knew it would require working on my self-confidence.
That morning, while browsing the posters in a drug store, I ran across a poster with a poem on it by Virginia Satir.
The poem “I am Me” spoke to me instantly.
I was at a low point in my life. I was struggling with who I was and what was my place in this world as a person with disabilities which at that time included a vision impairment and ADHD. During the previous five years I had been treated, both inpatient and outpatient, for severe recurring and seasonal affected depression.
Satiar’s poem helped me accept all the parts of me, both the good and the bad, and helped me see that any part of me I did not like or no longer fit in my identity, I could change.
In Satir’s poem, she spoke about every aspect of who and what a person is. Satir wrote about how unique each person is in our world. She talks about the body, mind, eyes, feelings, words that are spoken, and thoughts that are thought.
Satir also addresses the parts of us that confuse us, the parts of us that we may not like (weaknesses, what we are not good at and what we do not like about ourselves).
This was important to me at that time as I saw only my weaknesses, what I did not like about myself and what I could not do well.
I thumb tacked the poster to my wall outside of my bedroom in my one-bedroom apartment and read it every morning.
Reading that poster daily, and more often on difficult days including when I returned home after surviving an incomplete spinal cord injury, has contributed in the development of the self-confidence I needed to find my dream girl, marry her and create the success I have enjoyed since I purchased that poster.
The poster I had purchased is long gone, but the message I learned from “I Am Me” is a part of me today.
I strongly recommend to anyone who wishes to develop and/or grow their self-confidence to surround themselves with encouragement including the poem “I Am Me” by Virginia Satir.