How to Overcome Handicap Obstacles

People often believe that individuals with a handicap are at a disadvantage when it comes to achieving their goals. The word "handicap" is often used interchangeably with the word "disabled." World Health Organization describes a disability as something that limits a person's activities and restricts their involvement in life events. Handicaps that are a result of a physical or mental disability, whether they are acute or chronic, may cause a person to feel depressed about their quality of life as they compare themselves to the able-bodied society in which they live. People who have handicaps, however, can find ways to overcome obstacles and achieve success in their lives.

Instructions

• 1

  Define your obstacles. If a person is in a wheelchair, her obstacles may include not being able to go on amusement park rides with her children. A person with chronic pain from nerve damage might find his obstacle is his pain medication, which has side effects that have made it difficult for him to maintain steady employment and participate in recreational activities. Whatever your handicap is, you must first define what your obstacles are before you can attempt to overcome them.

• 2

  Maximize your strengths and stop looking at what you do not have. It is easy for a person who is deaf and blind to give up on a achieving a goal that seems like only those who can see and hear can accomplish. However, if Helen Keller had done this, libraries would not have their shelves stocked with her works. To start overcoming your handicaps, you must identify your strengths and maximize them. When you are able to stop looking over your fence and thinking about what you could do with your neighbor's field, you are better able to see all the good things you posses and do the most with what you are given. Once you do this, you can begin to overcome obstacles and establish the possibility of changing your life.

• 3

  Define what success means to you. To overcome obstacles resulting from a disability, examine your perceptions of how others define success verses your definition of success. Find out what it is about your definition and measure of success that has caused you stress in your life. After defining success for yourself, set parameters around your definition: turn your definitions into affirmations. Such affirmations may include knowing success does not happen overnight, knowing what your talents are and how to develop them, establishing small goals you wish to achieve and knowing that, ultimately, your happiness is dependent upon your choice to feel happy.

  As you question the obstacles life places in front of you regarding your handicap, learn to face your problems on a daily basis. Tackle them with a realistic and positive attitude so you can grow from your experience. You will then see that it is your ability to overcome your obstacles, despite your handicap, that determines your success in life.