Things are not always what they appear to be...

I have scoliosis. I was first diagnosed when I was 13. Two surgeries and more than 20 years later I always find it interesting that people do not 'know' about my condition. You see, most people look at you from the front. They observe your face and eyes and sometimes your teeth. Rarely does someone observe you from behind.

As a person with scoliosis I often find myself looking at people's backs. Are their backs straight or curved? Is one shoulder higher than the other? Do they have a scar that peeks out from their shirt? See I know first hand that things are not always what they appear to be. If you look at me from different angles you will notice the scar that runs from my neck to my bum or the slight pull of my shirt to the right. The people who really know me know that sometimes I am in pain, that I don't wear certain clothes because they don't fit my back like I want and that I know when it is going to rain based on how my body feels.
In order to really understand life, or people, you have to look at things from more than one angle. As a result, I try to ask questions before I jump to conclusions. I am also working hard to learn how to seek to understand instead of always being understood. But more importantly, I'm trying to let people's experience tell the story of their lives instead of using my opinion to make judgments.

I could say that I would have been this way naturally but I know deep down that if I didn't have scoliosis I would not be this way. Having scoliosis taught me about life at a young age and has hopefully taught me that in order to live life fully I need to look at how our life experiences shape who we are. So today take a second and look at your situation from a different angle. Hopefully you will see something that you missed before and you will be reminded that things are not always what they appear to be.