The Courage to Try

For the past few months I’ve been humming and hawing about attending some interesting online meetups. They’ve literally been sitting in my pinned folder for months, and I just haven’t had the courage to try them.

I started thinking, maybe I should explore my fears about trying a new group. The first thing that came to mind was I was afraid they wouldn’t accept my limb difference. I know you can’t really see it on camera, but just in general with meeting new people, that fear pops up. As much personal growth and self-love work as I’ve done, that fear still crops up. Will they like me? Will they think I’m weird? Will they think my hand is gross?

I got to thinking….I have a friend in the Moebius community who has limb differences. When I met her, maybe at first I was a little hesitant. But never did I think less of her. I think her limb differences make her interesting and unique. I was more curious than repulsed. And I feel like I need to remember that and give people more credit. When I’m out and about, people are generally pretty kind about seeing my hand.

I’m really not wanting my fear of people being scared of my hand to hold me back from attending these groups anymore. Any group *I’d* want to belong to would consist of kind, caring, loving, welcoming, accepting people. Regardless of what I look like. So, yes, I think in the next few weeks when I see one of those groups are meeting, I *will* have the courage to join!