Cora's critical lesson

Time flies by while Cora continues to have fun.  I watch her crossing the living room floor in her now infamous army crawl.  It takes her all of  a minute to get from one side of the room to the next.  This journey used to take her 30 minutes and that was with one of us giving her feet a bracing point and several rest stops on the way.  She now traverses this route with little effort and lots of smiles and babble along the way.

I watch her signing "Love mama" and "Love sister" and brother, papa and gg and auntie, etc.  She does this at the most spontaneous moments and with the sweetest smile on her face and a beautiful sparkle in her eyes.  She knows what she is saying.

I watch and become excited at the gain in balance she has achieved since visiting the chiropractor and having her energy work.  I see the strength increasing daily and her cognitive skills multiplying faster than I can do the times table, and this is from adding the Reliv products to her daily menu.

I sit back and watch Cora a great deal.  I sit and watch and reflect and my gratitude grows.  I am so thankful that I have learned the lesson of not listening to the critics.  If I had listened to the critics Cora's day would surely be different.

She wouldn't be signing, she wouldn't be crawling, she wouldn't be doing cognitive reasoning that is beyond her age and expectations (for an infant with Down syndrome), she would still be moving with a stuck spine and ribcage, she would probably be getting a medical intervention to help the failure to thrive, she would still be .......well - you get the picture.

Cora was born not listening to the critics and proving them wrong with the very first breath she took.  She has gifted me with this ability.  I have learned to be her voice and to follow my "gut instinct" and to not listen to the critics.  I have learned that I might have to displease a few people along this journey by not listening to their criticism and excusing them from traveling with us.  I have found that even those with the most well meaning of intentions are actually holding Cora back, by following up their suggestions with a opinion that contains criticism or a warning of what Cora won't do. 

I know without a doubt, that Cora and Creator have her journey all designed and planned.  One of the lessons on this journey has been to ignore the critics.  There are always going to be critics in anyones life, especially those whose lives are challenged from the very beginning.  Cora has taught me to allow people the respect of  knowing that they are listened to, to allow them their opinion, and then graciously thank them and send them on their way.

There are always going to be critics, there are always going to be those that offer their opinion and negative feedback.  As long as I understand that, but don't take it to heart, their criticism goes no further than the breathe that carried the words. 

The beauty of this lesson is that as long as we send those that criticise or are negative toward Cora's journey away with understanding, instead of condemnation, Creator will continue to bless us.  I have found that for every one person we dismiss from her life, Creator has brought us five more that support her and encourage her growth.

So, don't waste your time on people that will condemn you or try to make you fit into a box that they feel you should be in.  Don't let anyone criticise your choices when you are trying to live your life according to the journey that Creator has chosen for you.  Embrace you lessons and your destiny.  You don't need any one's approval.  The only approval you need is that of Creator.

For me, approval also comes from the one who greets me every morning with blue eyes and the words "mama" while she signs "love you".