What the Ticket-to-Work Program Has Taught Me…

Welcome! Thank you for taking the time to visit the MEO Blog, as I continue this journey of looking back, learning and sharing my experience with the Ticket-To-Work Program (MEO Style). It truly has been and continues to be a learning experience, one that has taught me a lot about me.

When initially diagnosed with a (dis)ability, in the middle of adulthood, it’s a lot. It is always at the most inopportune time, because there is no good time to be diagnosed with a (dis)ability. At its entry point into a person’s life, it’s disruptive to say the least. It was certainly disruptive for me. It was a point in my life where I could finally focus on me…making myself a priority…and then, there it was.

A (dis)ability is like an uninvited guest that continues to extend their stay. 😊 It’s an extra presence that changes everything in the space that it occupies. It affects the daily routine, emotions, motivation, etc, in that space. It can be exhausting physically because of having to do extra…those things you wouldn’t normally have to do and some, a different way from your typical.

Some uninvited guests are easy to dismiss from your space. Others, not so much, depending on their attachment to you; just like some (dis)abilities that may be temporary in their effect on the quality of life they have attached themselves to, and eventually go away. For some of us though, our (dis)ability has become a life-long uninvited attachment. Just as we have to do with the uninvited guest with an attachment, and no departure date in sight…we have to create new routines and work-arounds that allow us to minimize the (dis) attached to us, by maximizing our abilities.

The (dis) that attaches itself to our abilities can make us forget that we even have abilities that far outweigh our (dis)ability. It makes sense because depending on the (dis)ability, it can take a lot to wake up, get up, and rise above it…one day at a time. 

I write this blog because if just one person can get strength from the words that I pen, my hope is that they too can learn how to accommodate their uninvited (dis)ability in a way that improves their quality of life and sense of purpose. We all have gifts, talents and skills that we can share and that some person or space needs.

I want to leave you, today, with some of the things that the Ticket-To-Work Program (MEO Style) has taught me…I learned that I’m stronger than I thought I was:

• It took strength…
  • to see beyond my circumstances and imagine that I could work again
  • to reach out and find an EN (Employment Network) that was a good fit for me
  • to engage with my EC (Employment Counselor) even on the days I didn’t feel well 
  • to let go of some of the aged jobs that I thought should remain on my resumé 🙂 
  • to trust someone to do for me what I used to do for my clients, pre (dis)ability
  • to fill out countless applications and time-consuming, brain-challenging assessments
  • to receive countless thank you for applying, but…emails…yet continue to apply
  • to finally get a job and survive my first experience with Work From Home (WFH) Training
  • to maintain my first job for ~2.5 years thanks to the difficult days coaching, from my EC
  • to finally navigate back into my previous profession as an Employment Counselor…doing, again, what I’ve done for previous clients and what my EC did for me
  • to be patient with the process when it wasn’t moving fast enough for me

The Ticket-To-Work Program (TTWP) (MEO Style) has taught me so much about me…my determination, resilience and a reminder to never let my (dis) dismiss my abilities. The TTWP has provided a mirror that will eventually smile back at you, if you don’t give up. You can smile because you have accomplished your goal of working again or because you are still on the journey and determined not to give up. And you can also smile if you’ve tried your best, but your (dis)ability requires you to pause and focus on taking better care of yourself. 

We appreciate your time, always! Thank you for sharing some of it with us. Until next time, please take good care of yourself and keep looking up…be encouraged and remember that you’re stronger than you think!!

 **If this is your first visit to our blog site, please feel free to visit previous blogs. If you’re interested in more information regarding applying for the MEO Ticket to Work Program…click here: https://myemploymentoptions.com/apply-now/