Labels

As some of you know, I have a son with Cerebral Palsey. With that comes the unfortunate label of "Disabled". I have never and will never think of him that way! He is a child, a wonderful "abled" child. Labels are an unfortunate side affect of living inside "the box", as a family we chose to stay outside of that box in the raising of our children. When Alex was five he jumped up on my bed and asked me "Mommy, why am I different?, My hand doesn't open like the other kids". I'll admit, that was a tough thing to hear. We had never treated him any different at home, but now he was out with other kids. I took him in my arms and told him "Sweetie, we are all different, like our eye, hair and skin color. Some us are tall, some are short, but we are all different and that's what makes us special".  So you see, we can even label ourselves and not even realize we are doing it. 
Do you remember when you were young and playing on the playground? In grade school, everyone was happy to play and talk to everyone else. Then we hit junior high..........that is when the labeling starts. If you played sports, you were a "jock and/or popular kid". If you wore cowboy boots, you were a "hick". I think you get where I'm going with this. Why do we insist on labeling? Is it our own insecurities coming out, and that's how we make ourselves feel better? I'm not going to sit here and act as if I have never done it myself, I have and I'm not proud of it. But I can tell you that when I was growing up I did my best to be friends with everyone. That's how you grow and learn, the differences in all of us is what makes us unique. Who's to say that having CP is any different than someone wearing a cowboy hat and boots in the mall? It is who they are on the inside that matters. Why do you chose to stare and point? I want to challange everyone to  move outside of the box today. Do what I do, go up to the person that is different and talk to them instead of label them. You will find out that they are no different than you or me.