So I'm browsing around Facebook last week, seeing cat video after cat video and recipe after recipe, and then I came across something - someONE, rather - that grabbed my attention.
It was a video clip of a man in a wheelchair, and his name is Zach Anner of Austin, Texas. Zach was born with cerebral palsy, and the video was a top ten list of things that he wished people knew about those living with the disorder. The clip was informative, eye-opening, but at the same time, it was also downright hilarious.
It turns out Zach is something of a comedy star, working as a traveling comedian with a growing YouTube channel, and he also wrote a book about his life with CP called "If At Birth You Don't Succeed". He even won a talent competition organized by Oprah Winfrey that afforded him his own TV show a few years ago, a travel show called "Rollin' With Zach".
I don't know what it was, but something about Zach's video just stayed with me. The positivity of it, the message behind it, the humor in it, I guess a combination of everything. Here's a guy who lives in a wheelchair due to a brain disorder, and yet he's the most upbeat, funny and charismatic person I've come across - on the internet or in person - in a long time.
Some of his things he wished people knew about those with cerebral palsy, for example:
"Just because I'm in a wheelchair doesn't mean you can pet me like a dog. I'm not a dog. And just because I like to pee outside sometimes, that doesn't make me a dog. And just because I won the Westminster Dog Show last year doesn't make....oh my God.....am I a dog?"
"Just because I have cerebral palsy doesn't mean I'm inherently inspiring. I'm inspiring because I'm an author, a YouTuber, and I have the biceps of a Greek God."
"Just because your grandson has cerebral palsy doesn't mean I know him, Ethel. I mean, we don't even live in the same state!"
I went from having a so-so day to having a good one pretty quick after watching that video, as well as other ones that Zach has on his YouTube channel. His humor and his take on life is pretty infectious.
I guess it was something of a wake-up call; no matter what petty, mundane things may have us down at any time of the day, there's usually something to snap you out of your funk and show you that there's no sense stressing out over the simplest things. But maybe it's bigger than that. Maybe this society that is so quick to get offended by virtually everything needs to look at life from the viewpoint of someone like Zach; someone who lives with a brain disorder that keeps them in a wheelchair, but he doesn't let that affect him at all.
Heck, my own niece is in a wheelchair. She was born with spina bifida, and if you met her, you'd see right away that she's an outgoing, curious young woman who you can't help but fall in love with. At 22 years old, she's had more than her fair share of doctor visits and surgeries, but she doesn't let that stop her from being who she is, and nobody treats her any different than anyone else.
And I don't say that to be patronizing or paint people in wheelchairs as some inspiration story; after all, Zach himself says in the video that he's not inspiring because he's in a wheelchair, he's inspiring because of those biceps! (he's actually a pretty lanky fella, but man, that confidence!) I just think that if someone like Zach can live his life as normally as you and I do, then people can really lighten up in this "What can we find to be offended by today?" world we seem to live in.
We need those little wake-up calls to tell us, "Hey, stop worrying about this and that. You just do you and let the pieces fall in place."
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
