Unique Discoveries I Found After Becoming Disabled
Rick London
It seemed like only yesterday that I was living in Washington, D.C., working in corporate America, waking up at 6 am, rushing with my coffee while I brushed my teeth and put on my pinstripe suit and yellow power tie, and drove to work, arriving before rush hour. Only to be stressed out the rest of the day and night.
Then came a heart attack, a burst appendicitis, a dysfunctional vagus nerve (requiring an implant) and a myriad of other health problems, I was put on the corporate sidelines, and, at age forty, the medical community said I would not be working again, and I'd be lucky to function in society.
Now I was a person with a label. No longer was that label "corporate executive. It was "disabled." I did not buy the term. I bought a cheap computer and learned all I could about the Internet. I learned how to be a cartoonist and writer. I learned how to outsource and license the manufacturing of my image products. I became an entrepreneur within a few years, and a disabled one at that.
So now I was out to prove something. Though my body could not work like my mind, my mind did indeed still function, so, to me, I was hardly disabled. But I had to prove it to myself. So after creating Londons Times Cartoons, the most visited cartoon site on the Internet, I felt, "this is a good start." 9 e-stores later, I knew I was onto something, but, of course "disabled."
I never was a very good student in my youth, and so I entered a private accredited college online on scholarship. I finished 3 1/2 years. I accomplished something I could never do when I was "abled." Oh, and I had always failed math when I was "abled." I aced it with an "A" (and that was advanced math). So much for disabilities.
I let the government know of my activities, yet they simply ignored my suggestion that maybe a disability is not a disability at all. If one really wants to do something, it can be done.
After becoming "disabled" and achieving success nevertheless, I have discussed this with many other so-called disabled persons, and have discovered many similar stories. I am certainly not a hero nor even unique. Some have gone on to accomplish things that are beyond my scope.
Which brings me to the whole issue of labeling. What is so productive about labeling? I have been ten times more productive as a "disabled person" than when I was "fully functional" (pushing and signing papers mostly), in corporate America. It is truly something to think about.
Cartoonist and entrepreneur Rick London owns the largest and most visited cartoon site on the Internet Londons Times Cartoons and nine stores. One of his more popular gift e-estores can be found here. (
http://www.rickLondonwear.com/ ) To see one of Rick London's Top-rated cartoon gift stores click here
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