About the Bounce: Darda Sales
Everyone goes through tough times at times, whether you have a disability or not. How do we learn from that? I'm totally fine as a mature adult to fail at things. What's important is learning from it. The only time you fail is when you fail to learn. That's what I instill in my kids too. That's how I coach my athletes as well. We can learn something from every situation. That’s what's in the bounce. I'm a professional bouncer you might say (laughs).
Connect with the amputee community and learn from others who have lived experiences similar to what you are about to. Medical professionals are great and play an important role. But those who are living it are those who are going to be able to give you those day-to-day secrets and nuggets that make life easier. And they will be able to truly empathize with you. They know about bad days. They know that it sucks to wear a prosthesis some days. They get it. They can help you learn how to live life better. They’ll encourage you.
But this goes, really, for all amputees. There is so much we all don’t know. And even though we have the Internet, the answers are not all there. Pull strength from those who are living it. Ask questions of them that you may not be able to ask elsewhere.
We are allowed to have bad days. Sometimes, we in the disability community try to put on a brave face all the time because we don't want to be seen as complainers. We want to be seen as functionally able, so we can't complain. That's not reality. Finding people who are empathetic is so important. When they tell you, “Yeah I've been there but there are better days ahead,” they know it and it's true.
