This is the forty-second edition of The i’Mpossible Project: A series where anyone can share a personal story of inspiration or an event in life where they overcame tremendous odds. Everyone has a powerful story to tell and something to teach the world. (See HERE for guidelines on how you can write for The i’Mpossible Project.) Here we have Nora Resell with My Homemade Life
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My name is Nora, an ordinary fifteen year old girl in a small, ordinary country in Europe, but with an extraordinary disease, NMO, which I have lived with for about ten years now. My life has been a roller coaster ride of rough, happy, sad, and special moments – just like everyone else in this world. NMO is more than a “moment,” it’s a disease that you cannot ignore.
To be born in Norway with little information about Neuromyelities Optica (NMO), must’ve been hard for my parents. No one knew what when my first attack came on. When I was five, I had an severe transverse myelitis attack and lost my ability to walk or even sit. But within a few months, I fought my way out of that wheelchair. Soon after, I lost 96% of my vision and am now legally blind. I’ve had a total of six attacks—nothing to brag about of course—but I get back up each time. I have daily pains behind my eyes, in my neck, back, feet and countless other places in my body. Some days are worse than others. Despite all this, I am still here. It took a lot of effort to get where I am today; a great deal of tears, but I’m alive and happy, which really is the most important thing.
Fortunately, I have amazing, healthy friends who support me. Of course, they don’t understand my disease like my parents, but my friends are only humans and this disease is not easy to grasp. I’m glad they don’t think about my blindness and my disease all the time—not exactly the most fun topic of conversation.
Despite my disorder, classmates and friends come to me with their problems. They need and want someone to comprehend and understand them. I am happy to give advice (and find it to be somewhat of a relief) because my dream is to become a psychologist—because I love being helpful and giving of myself.
Writing provides another small relief, be it a novel, song lyrics, drawing a picture, or composing the notes of a melody.
Everyday life and dreams keep me content and happy—not something everyone with a serious disease can say. Not everyone is lucky enough to get out of their wheelchair—no matter how hard they work, and I can empathize with the loss of physical ability. But with out minds we get to control how we respond to what life hands us. There are many hours in a day that need to be filled—with music, writing, expanding your social network, or something else. You don’t need to be super talented to enjoy something. As long as you can find something you love, it’s okay.
If I could choose between a life with or without NMO, I would of course ask for the latter, but I don’t have a magic genie to grant me that wish. Maybe someday there will be a cure, or a way for me to see again, and to get rid of some of the pain, but everyone with NMO or another disorder, needs to have something to live for. Something that makes his or her life worth living. I found what I was searching for—friends, family, a purpose—and you can do that too
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Why is this "The i’Mpossible Project?"
Inspired by Josh Rivedal's book and one-man show The Gospel According to Josh: A 28-Year Gentile Bar Mitzvah. Gospel (non-religious) means "Good News" and Josh's good news is that he's alive, and thriving, able to tell his story and help other people.
On his international tour with his one-man show, he found incredible people who felt voiceless or worthless yet who were outstanding people with important personal stories waiting to be told. These personal stories changed his life and the life of the storyteller for the better.
Josh's one-man show continues through 2015 and beyond and he is looking for people in all walks of life, online and offline, to help give them a voice and share their stories with the world.
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