Laugh it off

Good day everyone. I hope your week is going fine and work? I hope it’s fine too? Speaking of work, I went to the office the other day. My cabdriver took me there. I didn’t know he doesn’t have a good knowledge of how to handle the wheelchair. I have been using the crutches for so many years now but I am finding out that using the crutches is causing me a lot of stress especially on my knees. Diverting to the wheelchair was a very difficult decision for me to make because I have been using the crutches all my life. Come to think of it, even the crutches scared me too the very first time it was introduced to me. It took me like forever to get used to. I have been putting off using the wheel for more than a year now. Why going on the wheel scares me is something I will never understand because most of my friends have been using it for as long as I have known them and they have never had any problems with them. Going on wheels is better for mobility because I can go longer distances with it. So after comparing the Wheelchair versus the Crutches, I finally got a Wheelchair. Yes!!! 😃 But I am still learning how to use the wheel.

The wheel has some basic skills that one needs to master. One thing I still find myself doing especially when I’m going out with my wheel is, I take my crutches along at least for now. That way I don’t feel tense or afraid. On this particular morning when I was about going to the office, I thought about going along with my crutches as usual but on a second thought, I decided to go without it. When we got to the office, my cabdriver brought out my wheel and proceeded to help me to my office. There’s like three little steps to the office. When we got to the step, the first one we had to ascend, I told him to face the wheel towards the step and lift the front tires in order for us to climb because the step was a bit steep but he thought otherwise and spun the wheel chair around using the back to climb. Before I could say Jack!! I found myself on the floor. 😞😔It was a very shocking and embarrassing moment for me because I was all dressed up for work and my other colleagues have never seen me fall before. I didn’t feel happy about it but I just laughed it off. That actually eased off the tension. They all came to help me up and I think my driver was very very sorry that he did not heed to my instructions. Not everyone knows how to assist with the wheelchair especially when it comes to climbing or decending a bump or slope. That’s one thing I’ve come to find out through the hard way offcourse.

Falling is not a new thing to me. With the crutches I fall sometimes too. This kind of falls are the type you never see coming. You only believe that you have fallen when you find yourself on the floor. There’s this friend of mine, she also uses the crutches. Anytime she falls, she makes me laugh alot. How? Whenever she falls and finds herself on the floor, she becomes angry and picks up the Crutches and throw them very far away from her. like the crutches is the reason she fell. You get the drill…like the crutches disappointed her. when her anger is spent, you see her going back to pick them. I always tell her to stop throwing the crutches away because the crutches is her trusted friend.😀 OK that is by the way, falling is part of the challenges that comes with some disabilities. Sometimes you fall without any prior warning.

The fall I had at the office came with some bruises and pains. Although I didn’t feel any pain initially, my body started aching later that night. I had to take some pain killers before going to bed. The pains will pass but this is one of the challenges of having a disability. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, the fall is inevitable. So, what do I do when it happens???…Take my pain killers and laugh it off…lots and lots of laugh. I understand that not only those with disabilities fall. Sometimes any one can fall too. How do you deal with it when it happens? Do you just laugh it off or do you feel embarrassed? How do you handle it? Let me know in the comments below.👇