Are you brave enough to accept that you are different?

Richard Branson recently spoke with the Washington Post about overcoming personal obstacles and turning disadvantages into advantages. I hit some of my own obstacles last night, struggling with what my MS future looks like, how dismal it may become. I woke up this morning and read a brief article about turning negatives into positives, written by a gentleman who struggled with dyslexia to later become a billionaire.

"Turn a disadvantage into an advantage"
Sir Richard Branson
photo credit: Stephen Chernin

Here’s a quote from the article featured on Richard Branson’s blog on virgin.com.

“Whatever personal challenge you have to overcome, you must be brave enough to accept that you are different. You must have the courage to trust your instincts and be ready to question what other people don't. If you do that, you can seize opportunities that others would miss. Believe in yourself, and use everything you can - including the obstacles - to propel you along the road to success. Who knows what you might achieve?”

Richard’s words served as a reminder for me that, yes, while I am brave enough to accept that I am different, I still struggle a bit with identifying the opportunities to help me succeed. How do I do this? How will I recognize them when they surface? Perhaps this is something for me to contemplate in 2013.

In the meanwhile, how about you? What obstacle did you overcome this past year and what were you able to achieve because of it? I’d love to hear from you.

Happy New Year everyone!

Best always,

Christie

P.S. click here to read Sir Richard's full blog post