Once upon a time, and a very important time it was, I learned something about myself; that I have a lot of courage.  I have a number of medical problems that make it quite difficult for me to  walk. One day I was able to pick myself back up when I was physically and emotionally down, literally and figuratively.  Here's what happened:

I was walking across campus and having one of those days when my legs and my brain fail to connect in the way they're supposed to, so I kept tripping and stumbling, walking slowly and struggling to make it up the hill.  Each time I would trip or stumble a group of girls behind me would start laughing hysterically like it was the funniest thing on earth. All I wanted to do was to run and hide somewhere. And I just couldn't do that. Eventually I ended up falling, hurting my pride more than anything, since they found that to be the funniest thing on earth. 

Now this is the amazing part. I just stood back up and kept walking.  I know I look funny when I walk but I also know that it doesn't matter what those girls thought. What mattered was that I got back up and kept going.  For the first time I did not allow the hurtful comments and actions of others to keep me down or humiliate me, but instead I kept walking up that hill.  When I finally reached the top I was prouder than I could have imagined. It was like I had climbed a mountain instead of a hill, and in a way I did, I climbed a mountain of fear inside of myself. 

Bridget's Story
mailto:bethany_summer@yahoo.com