Sometimes we are not our best at work, and we struggle.

Today, this week, this month, this year, I’ve needed to be lifted and be inspired. I’ve had my fair share of physical challenges. It takes a toll on one. I thought about who I could visit, think of, talk to, and remember.  I‘ve often gotten out of my way or pain by loving and serving others. Truth be told, it was not working for me.

Turning my focus to the dozens of Boards I have been blessed to serve on , I chose to look for inspiration there, as all of them have inspired me constantly. In that moment, I thought of a friend I met along the way, when I was a member of the Board of Directors at The Arc of Greater Cleveland under the Executive Director, Cindy Norwood.

I met my new friend, Carrie Bergeron, at an annual bowling and pizza party.

I remembered she has many roles and titles in her life. Among them, she is a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a daughter, sister, volunteer, teacher’s aide, self advocate, motivational speaker, fitness enthusiast, teacher, friend, conversant in sign language, student, pioneer, teaches Ti Chi to seniors in an extended care facility, a dancer, a volunteer for many years now helping toddlers with cerebral palsy and most of all a powerful women… She also happens to have Down’s Syndrome, and she carries and proves the mantra loud and clear, “We are more alike than different.” She has among her many goals a committed passion to rid the world of the “R” word…

Carrie declares to all of us, “I take the DIS out of DISABILITY and make it my ABILITY to advocate for those of us with special needs.” She is Carrie Bergeron, a self-advocate and teacher. Listening and watching her is precisely what I needed. I’m thinking of ways to take my DIS out of my Disability and make it my Ability… So, in the end, I have had a change of heart and gained the inspiration to push on. I needed to love and serve.

-Photo by George Shuba-