Source: Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash
Perhaps you've heard this before, like a toxic positivity mantra geared towards disabled people who want to live their lives. In Filipino, its "Kumpleto naman katawan mo, ano palusot mo?" Translated, it'll be "You have complete body parts, what's your excuse?" I don't have an excuse. I have a reason.
Filipinos love the grind, always doing the "kayod kalabaw," or working like a carabao. But when you analyze the life of a carabao, its poor treatment, heavy work, and little to no compensation, you'd see the exact mirror image of most Filipinos. Yes, you can't pay carabaos money, that's obvious. However, like all animals, a carabao needs affection, respect, and food. Yet, they're subjected to abuse. They're underfed, beaten, or treated to the bare minimum. That's the same as poor to middle-class Filipinos, working so hard they'd get sick. Like carabaos, they're exploited, poorly treated and paid, and replaceable.
Yet people still push this idea of going through, surviving, and resiliency. Resiliency for what? What are you surviving for, and why do you have to live in a world that abides by the law of the jungle? Why must I, a disabled person with chronic illnesses, have to defend myself, justifying the label of "disabled" and live by the stigma? Why does everyone want to "cheer me up" and "encourage me" by putting me down? It's a weird notion to compare in order to make someone feel better or try harder.
Disabled people are trying enough. It's not obvious, as is their disease. Your body isn't the one that suffers through pushing itself past its limit, and for what reason, YOU?
A complete body doesn't mean that one shouldn't have a disability. Bodies are weird and complex; disability isn't linear. What we can do is respect it, and the people who have to go through what we can't.