We’ve all heard it. Being disabled shouldn’t stop you from accomplishing your dreams. It’s true, of course. Your life shouldn’t stop just because you can’t achieve a goal in the way someone else might get there. But sometimes, the truth of the matter gets lost behind all the positivity and encouraging statements. Disability shouldn’t hold you back, but it shouldn’t be ignored either.

Let’s be honest here. We don’t live in an accessible society. There are bars, and stairs, and mountains that disabled people must climb over every single day. Permits, expensive accessibility aids, programs for electronics that cost more than the average person’s electric bill – a new trial that sits around every corner and it’s exhausting. When day to day life takes so much work, the thought of going after a dream? That seems almost laughable.

But it’s not. Every day, we’re able to overcome impossible odds. Every day, we’re able to get a little closer to our goals. The path is longer and it’s winding – but it’s still there. And if you reach out, there are people and places that can help you get even further down that path. More resources are becoming available every day. No matter what your bad day or dark thoughts try to tell you, your dream is still within reach.

Life isn’t a race to the finish line. It’s not about who can get there fastest. Life’s an endurance test – and every day puts us a little bit closer to the goal.