{"id":2037,"date":"2023-11-08T17:59:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T17:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chrisnorton.org\/?p=2037"},"modified":"2023-11-08T17:59:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T17:59:39","slug":"the-day-my-friend-borrowed-my-wheelchair-and-the-lesson-it-taught-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisnorton.org\/blog\/the-day-my-friend-borrowed-my-wheelchair-and-the-lesson-it-taught-me\/","title":{"rendered":"The Day My Friend Borrowed My Wheelchair and The Lesson it Taught Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n
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“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Hey\u00a0Friend!
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\r\nI have noticed\u00a0a striking difference between pre-injury and post injury life\u2026 People are\u00a0kinder to me. We\u00a0are capable of being so much more\u00a0compassionate to one another. This\u00a0story from a few years back exemplifies this perfectly.\u00a0
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\r\nMy friend and I were at our gate waiting for our flight to a conference I was speaking at. To kill the time, my friend asked to use my wheelchair while we waited. It was an unusual ask but nonetheless thought it would be entertaining. He transferred me to a seat while he wheeled around.\u00a0
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\r\nWhen it was getting close to time to board, I asked if he’d speak to the gate agent to see if we could get as close to the front of the plane as possible, which makes it much easier for me to board. He happily rolled over and secured our ideal spots.
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\r\nShortly after, as we boarded, the gate agent saw my friend standing. She had a very puzzled and startled look. She was able to quickly put it together; she wasn\u2019t witnessing a miracle, but simply a Houdini switcheroo. Bothered, she said, “I thought you were in a wheelchair! I was so nice to you!”
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\r\nSince my injury, I’ve witnessed people’s capacity for kindness. But it often takes visible challenges to draw that out. But most burdens are invisible – grief, depression, heartache. We withhold kindness until we see tangible need.
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\r\nYet empathy is a choice. I wish we extended grace without requiring suffering to deserve it. We all face hidden battles.\u00a0
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\r\nSo offer kindness to all, regardless of appearance. Seek to understand invisible struggles.\u00a0
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\r\nKindness is a language we all need. By choosing it consistently, we build a more compassionate world. Our humanity thrives when we lead with gentle hearts.
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\r\nYour friend,
\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\r\nChris<\/p>\r\n


\r\nClick\u00a0here<\/a> to\u00a0share with a friend if you found this valuable \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain Hey\u00a0Friend! \u00a0 I have noticed\u00a0a striking difference between pre-injury and post injury life\u2026 People are\u00a0kinder to me. We\u00a0are capable of being so much more\u00a0compassionate to one another. This\u00a0story from a few years back exemplifies this perfectly.\u00a0 \u00a0 My […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Day My Friend Borrowed My Wheelchair and The Lesson it Taught Me - Chris Norton<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chrisnorton.org\/blog\/the-day-my-friend-borrowed-my-wheelchair-and-the-lesson-it-taught-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Day My Friend Borrowed My Wheelchair and The Lesson it Taught Me - Chris Norton\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain Hey\u00a0Friend! \u00a0 I have noticed\u00a0a striking difference between pre-injury and post injury life\u2026 People are\u00a0kinder to me. 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