Those dwarf moments...

Believe it or not, but I actually came across this saying years ago by Benjamin Disraeli:

Life is too SHORT to be LITTLE.

Now and then when I am standing on a twelve inch step stool, I will suddenly have one of those "what if" moments.  The moments when I pause, and cannot help but imagine how different my life would be if I had just those twelve inches more.  There would certainly be more I could reach.  Also, I definitely would be seen as just another human rather than being this "object" of ridicule and meanness by all the rude ones out there if I had twelve more inches.  And I surely would not have all the pain and physical battles I live with.

After a moment I step back down off the stool and return to reality again...with my attitude of gratitude. 

I know how blessed I am.  Many Little People much shorter than me cannot even reach door knobs or light switches...things most take for granted.  And many Little People are far more physically challenged than I, because their legs are terribly bowed necessitating a series of painful knee, ankle, and hip surgeries...then shoulder surgeries.  Also as I touched on in a earlier blog, many Little People have very short arms, feet, fingers, and hands.  Many of us are short because our long bones are not the normal lengths, however, we have the same muscle mass as an average height person, thus giving Little People the appearance of being chubby.  In addition, many Little People are confined to wheelchairs.  There are also some types of dwarfism which include severe respiratory problems and other very painful, challenging issues.  And on and on it goes.

The world has many very brave courageous Little People out there living with overwhelming challenges far more debilitating than mine, and I have been blessed to know some of them.  

Several years ago, prior to social media taking off, I created a Little People Living With Pain online support group for Little People of all ages, including children, and their parents, including parents of average height.  Since there was not anything else like it online then, the group really took off, giving children, parents, and adult Little People a platform to share their terrible pain issues and more they were living with, besides a place to learn, be encouraged...or to just be heard.   

In my eyes they were all heroic.  I had several members who were not only confined to wheelchairs, but were living with terribly severe respiratory problems due to the types of dwarfism they had.  My heart would break for them.  

During the years I kept the group going, some died...all young, brave, amazing, and dear, who touched everyone deeply.

So always whenever I have one of "those moments," I grab hold of my "gratitude attitude," and remember just how blessed I am.  For you see, there are always others battling more than ourselves out there, who inspire by how very tall they walk and their courage.