For Invisible Disabilities Week- Don't judge on the outside, Look Into The Heart

Having an invisible disability all my life has been very difficult. Mostly because of people not being able to tell I have a disability. My Mom and I say it's a blessing and a curse. I can't tell you how many times someone has said " I can't tell you have a disability" and how many times that upset me and made life even harder for myself.

Just because someone looks fine on the inside doesn't mean they aren't struggling on the inside.

Basically all my life I have been misunderstood or judged harshly because people just couldn't understand me and that just shows that people really do judge on the outside and your appearance then really looking in and asking questions about your life to figure out what it is you actually go through. My life has been a series of health issues always one after the other. I struggle and I struggle. I never really do get a break. Also I have severe anxiety. Sometimes getting really bad anxiety attacks to the point where i shake and cry or get upset.

I wish people looked more inward then outward. Because God looks on the inside and sees everything that is happening.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

When people look on the outside and judge people before get to know them they can miss a lot. The opportunity to understand they are a really good person but no one likes them because they don't look the same as you or act like you. Others could miss what's in the heart of the person when you look beyond outward appearances. They might be really caring and a loyal friend or have talents but have no friends to share it with who really care.

For a season, I worked at a cafe and I was working and so was a boy with a more visible disability and I was the one taking the lady's order and everything and working and he was just sitting down working on something and as i was checking her out at the counter she said " i would like to give this boy 5$" just because you could see his disability. That hurt.

I also have had a lot of teachers that misunderstood me in the past and got upset with me because they couldn't understand me. When I was younger I might've had a hard time being still during classes or didn't understand a lot...I don't exactly remember...but I DO remember feeling misunderstood.

Grade school kids misunderstood me and bullied me a lot because they thought I was weird and didn't understand me. I felt alone.

I you see a person who you might think is a bit different then others, slower than others, quiet, not a lot of friends they might be somebody with an invisible disability. Try to understand them before you judge them. We all want a full life too... having friends and people that care about us and that check in, people trying to understand us and accept us... that's all we could ever ask for.

So try and look at the heart and see within instead of on the outside. As I said before, if you just look on the outside you might miss someone's who's actually really great and could be your new friend.