Illuminate the Label: What Cerebral Palsy Gave Me

Most people see Cerebral Palsy as a limitation but I see it as a relentless teacher.

Classrooms taught me literature, essays, and career paths.
Cerebral Palsy taught me resilience, adaptability, and perspective.

It didn’t ask permission to shape my life.  It didn’t knock before entering. But it refined me in ways comfort never could.

1. It Gave Me Resilience

I didn’t overcome CP — I grew up with it.  There was no “before.” Just adaptation from day one.  Falling wasn’t inspirational, but getting back up was necessary.

That resilience now fuels my motherhood, my career, my leadership — my living.

2. It Gave Me Creative Problem-Solving

My life is built on adaptation:

• Shoe inserts for balance.

• A custom golf shoe for my stance.

• Holding my phone under my chin to steady a photo.

• A touchscreen laptop because a mouse doesn’t survive my grip.

That isn’t weakness.  That’s innovation shaped by experience and moments of uttervv frustration where I allow creativity to grow, perhaps after a few tears!

3. It Gave Me Empathy

Living visibly different taught me to notice who feels unseen, to read a room quickly, and to advocate with strength — not pity.

It shaped my voice.
It shaped ABLE.
It shaped my question: What do you need?

4. It Gave Me Humor

If I don’t laugh at my tremors, autocorrect will.  Humor shifts discomfort into an instant connection.  One that says “Hi, I’m Marina” while Cerebral Palsy takes the appropriate back seat.  It makes people lean in instead of look away.

5. It Gave Me Perspective

This is my normal.  So when someone asks what it feels like, the answer is simple:

It feels like living. Fully.

Cerebral Palsy may be labeled a disability.  But it has enabled depth, determination, adaptability, advocacy, and leadership.

When we illuminate disability instead of hiding it, what looks like a limitation becomes a lens.

And through mine, I don’t see broken.I see built differently.