Reflection…12 Year Journey

Welcome or welcome back! As always, thank you for sharing some moments of your time, which is your life, visiting our MEO Blog. We certainly hope that you’ve found something in these blogs that have helped your pathway to become a little bit smoother and brighter. But most of all, our hope is that they have given you some hope, no matter what it looks like or where you are in your journey, within or back into the workspace. 

The beauty of us, as individuals, is that we each have our own style of how we filter, transmit and receive information. Our emotions are different in how they show up, when and how much. Some of us need a lot of interaction and others would prefer little or none at all. Some prefer a conversation, others, an email or a text. Some of us don’t have to be found…we show up on a regular…yet others will have to be pursued or reminded. The Ticket-To-Work Program (MEO Style) matched the style that I and so many need to find our way back into the working world. The MEO Style is not this or that…it’s this and that. It’s not cookie cutter in any way.

As I look back at what I needed 12 years ago, when I was informed that if my condition didn’t go away in a year, it would classify as a (dis)ability…impacting my life and livelihood for the rest of my tomorrows. Because I didn’t have the ability to know what my tomorrows would hold, I had a choice…believe beyond what I could see, that they could get better if I tried. I could choose not to try at all or try from a point of defeat, not really believing that my life or livelihood would ever be better than it was in that given moment.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year but, early in this journey and even in the middle, the Holidays were hard for so many different reasons. But the beauty of continuing to move, even when it feels hard and you can’t see what’s in front of you, is that at some point you are gifted an opportunity to glance back and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that you didn’t give up. 

My (dis)ability is a life-threatening one. It was 12 years ago, and it still is today, but I see it differently now and even appreciate it in some ways. I’ve learned how to manage it to the best of my ability, and I have faith for what’s beyond my control. I have a tendency to believe no matter what it looks like and to keep moving even though, many times on my journey, it made sense for me to be still and just accept the limitations of my (dis)ability. But that’s just not the way I’m wired. I’m realistic about what I’m dealing with, but when I look back over the years, I had to learn to be flexible and figure out how to manage my (dis)ability in order to find a pathway that made room for me to improve my quality of life.

Each day that I wake up, I give thanks for the gift of life. Sure, it looks different from what it used to and who knows what it will look like in the future…but in this moment…I choose to do everything I can to make the best of the gift I’ve been given today. Today is a day that we have never seen before and will never see again…let’s make the best of it with our try…!

I did not think that I would ever be able to work again, yet here I am. So many of you have the same story and some of you haven’t gotten to that chapter yet. But if you just keep turning the pages and crossing the bridge from chapter to chapter; you, too, may find yourself, years later, looking back with gratitude that you continued to have hope enough to fill each page of your life story.

I know in my heart that it was Divine Intervention that led me to the Ticket-To-Work Program (MEO Style). I feel like I’m supposed to be here. This isn’t a pathway I could have taken if I didn’t have a (dis)ability. There is something unique about helping clients with (dis)abilities when you have one yourself; about coaching clients through the same process and pathway that you have traveled. And while using the same mode of transportation that you took to navigate through uncertainty and days of not feeling like you could…or that it would work out as expected. Yet, ultimately, finding yourself at a work destination of your choosing or one that was found while being rerouted on a detour of delays and setbacks. Eventually, there it is…what you’d hoped for, a job that’s a good fit for you!! One that shines the spotlight on your abilities. One that was only found because you continued to search.

This Holiday Season felt special. Even though last year wasn’t an easy year for so many…we are still here with an opportunity to fill each day, at the beginning of this New Year, with lots of hope for what we cannot see. We can choose to believe that the New Year has better for us. Some of us just need it to be better than and others would like it to be even better. 

In order to continue working, I have to manage my (dis)ability…that’s a huge part of my motivation…I can’t work if I don’t take care of myself. Navigating back into the workspace has improved the quality of my life and livelihood in ways I couldn’t have imagined. It looked like I would be on SSDI the rest of my life. But 12 years later…that has proven to not be so and I am grateful!!

In this New Year, please be hopeful if you aren’t already and continue to be hopeful if you’re already there!! Our lives have purpose, with or without a (dis)ability!! I didn’t expect that this is where my journey would bring me…but I’m so glad it did!!

Thank you so much for joining us on this journey throughout 2025 and into a New Year filled with possibilities! We wish you all the best in every aspect of your life and the lives of those connected to you. We look forward to continuing this journey with you! Please look for and find something that will give you joy and peace, even in the midst of…

A Very Happy New Year is our wish for you and yours!

 **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/