Not missing this at all

I learned a valuable lesson while in D.C.  Our hotel was an upscale one (we got a great rate) and the first part of the week, of course, it was filled with veterans there for the Disabled Veterans Memorial
Dedication.  We were all one big family, smiling  and talking to each other on the elevator.  We weren't strangers, avoiding eyes, we were brothers and sisters, always happy to lend a helping hand.

The second half of the week, the hotel was filled with conferences and conventions and business people were streaming everywhere.  The clothes and snippets of conversation I overheard took me back to a different time, when I was a part of that world.

I recognized that look, smile with the quick glance over your shoulder to see if there was someone more important behind you.  I recognized the hunger in the conversations to do more, be better, make more.  I recognized the desperation behind the hungry eyes.

I also realized that I don't miss it anymore.  While some people revel in the chase of the business world, I'm glad I left it behind.  For a while, whenever I ran into someone from my old world, I would be ashamed of my disabilities.  No more.  Now, I don't have to be nice to anyone for business' sake.  I am nice only to the people I actually like.  I don't waste my time networking or thinking who will get me the next sponsor.

I realize that the people I talk to and spend time with are friends - people I actually enjoy spending time with.  I have unfriended people on Facebook, deleted others out of my phone because I don't want them in my life.  The people in my life are the ones who see beyond my current disabilities and know that I have value and worth just the way I am.  They don't care that I walk with a cane or don't wear the latest fashion anymore or that I've gained weight.  They care about what I do and think and they realize that I still have a lot to offer.

These are the people I choose to have in my life.