Outside The Box…It’s A Sandbox…

Welcome! Thank you for taking the time to visit the MEO Blog, as you join me on a journey of looking back, connecting the dots, and learning from my experience with the Ticket-To-Work Program (MEO Style).

There are some things in life that we have control over, others not so much. I’ve learned that even those things that we are not in control of and may dictate aspects of our lives, we still have some control over our responses to them. I’m not always in control of how a thing makes me feel. Once it lands on my emotions though…more times than not…I have some control over the output, what comes out of me, as a result of it.

On the (dis)ability phase of my journey, I’ve had to learn some things and unlearn others. I’ve had to learn when it’s okay to push beyond what I believe my capacity to be. I’ve also had to learn when to listen to my body and pull back a bit. I’ve learned that the way I used to do a thing isn’t the only way to get it done. This phase would teach me that I was more and could do more than what I thought or even felt in that moment or series of moments, that spanned over years. I celebrated and still celebrate and give thanks every morning when I open my eyes…because there it is…a gift…of another day, to try again!!

On my toughest days, I would wonder…is this it…is this what the rest of my life is going to be like. If you’ve read my previous blogs…you know what’s coming. 😊 I was very much grateful for my SSDI. It was what I needed to exist…but I could not live on it. I don’t know where I would be without it, let’s be clear on that. After ~4 years getting acquainted with my (dis)ability, my spirit became restless and wanted more. I knew I had to do something, yet no clue what or how. My life was totally different, and I felt like I had been placed in a box and began to desperately look for a way out. Working was what I’d known since my teenage years. Although my body had limitations, my mind had things in it that needed an escape and it yearned to be challenged again, and contribute somehow and in some way. It began to have a serious problem with being boxed in. 😊

It really did feel like my (dis)ability had placed me in a box…my own sandbox where it was just me, isolated. When I look back, I realize that for as much healing as possible to occur and for the realization of my new reality to set in, the box had purpose. However, the time came when the box had served its purpose and it was no longer my (dis)ability that was holding me in the box…but my comfort within the box and fear of what would happen if I got out of the box. My (dis)ability may have put me in the box, but as time went on, I began to wonder if I could get out of the box and what would happen if I did.

Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to spend a lot of time wandering in the wilderness before I found the Ticket-To-Work Program (MEO Style). I was still in the box when I had my initial conversation with MEO. After speaking with the Intake Specialist…who is the same one that everyone who comes through the ‘virtual doors’ of MEO speaks with, initially, even to this day; for the first time in years, I had hope and began to realize that the box I was in, was like a sandbox. It wasn’t enclosed…it was open…and I could isolate and let fear keep me in it or I could look outside for a resource to help me gather information to conquer my fears and help me create a workable plan to walk me through the maze of finding a space in the working world to contribute the abilities that were still in me…coexisting with my (dis)ability.

I can’t explain why I’ve never asked myself why I was the one that ended up with this (dis)ability. It’s just not something that I’ve ever thought to ask or needed an answer to. Along this journey, I’ve learned why. If I hadn’t been diagnosed with a (dis)ability…I wouldn’t have been on SSDI…if I wasn’t on SSDI…I wouldn’t have been granted a Ticket for the Ticket To Work Program (TTWP)…if I didn’t have a Ticket for the TTWP…I would never have known or experienced My Employment Options (MEO)…if I hadn’t experienced MEO…my clients wouldn’t be my clients and you wouldn’t be reading this blog! When someone has already travelled the road that you’re on, there are some things on the journey that you don’t have to explain, they’re unspoken. It’s my experience that has taught me those things that I use to help others on the same pathway. Different experiences, same goal…finding a job that’s a good fit and that allows us to manage our (dis)ability so that we can work. It wasn’t easy, but refusing to give up and keeping the faith no matter what it looked like, got me here.

So, I’ve concluded that my (dis)ability may have put me in a box, but only I can keep myself in it. Only my (dis)abilities are limited…not my abilities. My (dis)abilities may keep a part of me boxed in at times…that’s a part of my reality. My abilities are also my reality, and they choose to live outside of the box. MEO boosted my confidence and determination to keep searching until I found my space back into a working world that would allow me to manage my (dis)abilities that are within the sandbox, while my abilities continue to play far beyond and outside of.

We have an opportunity with each day to try again or try something different. No matter how difficult things get, please don’t ever stop believing that a moment is just a moment and each day that we are gifted is one that we’ve never seen before, nor will we see it again. That means that with every day, things change, and we have an opportunity to change with each of them.

Thank you for joining us on this journey of reflection and gratitude of how MEO changed my life forever and always!! Life may put you in a box for a season…but for your sake, don’t put yourself in one or continue to exist in one. Take good care of yourself and those connected to you. Until next time…keep looking up and around for opportunities outside the box… 

**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/