INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACCEPTANCE, PEOPLE!

A happy new year to you all!

I wish you a year of abundance, blessings, and yes, inclusion! Inclusion and acceptance are what we talk about and constantly push for.

Today is the International Day of Acceptance. Just as the name suggests, it’s a day we celebrate persons with disabilities and also push for their acceptance in society.

Let's take you down memory lane, shall we?

Annie Hopkins founded 3E Love to make the world a much better place. She also created the symbol of Acceptance- the famous image that shows the wheelchair in the shape of a heart.

Recognizing and respecting differences in others, and treating everyone like you want them to treat you, will help make our world a better place for everyone. Care… be your best. You don’t have to be handicapped to be different. Everyone is different!” – Kim Peek

First of all, why should we even care about people with disabilities? They are part of society and deserve love and support like others.

Not sure many of you know, but in the past, people with disabilities were outcasts of society. They are often seen as invisible and disregarded in society.

People isolated and disregarded them because of a lack of awareness or insensitivity.

Thank God, now things are better! There have been incredible efforts put in place for this to happen- We’re talking about seminars and conferences created to advocate for disability acceptance and awareness, like the GT-Bank Annual Autism conference.

Now more than ever, we must keep the work going on and make every effort to be more inclusive.

I’m about to go all spiritual. We should love people with disabilities because they like we are, are also created in the image of God. We often believe that if someone doesn’t look, talk or walk like us, they are less.

No, they are different, not less.

Here are great ways in which you can celebrate this day!

Encourage people with disabilities to stay strong, and dedicate your time to helping someone. Speak about someone inspiring and push for their recognition. Ensure that you make these people feel embraced and happy. I say it constantly- people feel much better when their differences are known and accepted.

And to end this, I once thought that people with disabilities do not live a life as we do. No, I was so wrong. These beautiful people live very fulfilling lives and achieve what we do and much more.

So, celebrate differences today!

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