Stories about physically disabled people striving to live a normal life inspire people. If they can overcome great obstacles, why can’t others overcome lesser barriers?

We think people like Barb Zablotney, who was disabled by a spinal cord injury in a car accident, is an inspirational for all.

After her incident,  Zablotney went through depression and the loss of her mother and fiancé, which led her to start binge eating and gaining weight.

She was in a downward spiral that was leading to a worse place, but she eventually got back on her feet.

Now she plans to compete in the Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania pageant.

Although Zablotney focuses her speech on the ignorance that she faces daily, there are other lessons to be learned as well.

We all face difficulties in life, but in learning of someone like Zablotney, we can overcome them.

If Zablotney can pull herself together after the accident, then others should also be able to overcome obstacles in their lives.

Not only should a normal person have faith in themselves to overcome obstacles, they should also be responsible for the decisions they make every day.

If a person misses  class because they slept in due to playing video games  or partying late at night, it is not an excuse if they consider what some of the disabled students have to go through just to be able to get to class.

Those who are fortunate enough to be physically healthy should be motivated and inspired by  people like Zablotney. We should all show a measure of the strength she displays.

There are children in developing countries who don’t have access to clean water, sufficient food and proper education. Meanwhile, people who have access to all three and more, are not appreciative of what they have.

We should all be thankful for everything that we have, and we should complain less.

Life isn’t always the way we want it to be, but we are luckier than many others, and that is something we should always keep in mind before we make excuses for what we have or haven’t done.