Emotional Supports
I have many supports that help me emotionally. My religion/faith help me function and cope daily knowing that God created me and that He is there for all my needs. When times are hard, then I know I count on God to get me through and I know that I have Him to thank for all the blessings in my life. My family and friends are there for me as well not only emotionally, but also for practical and physical supports. My husband is by my side through the good and bad times and supports me whether I am upset, happy, angry, or need that extra push. My children support me by offering me love and compassion. They believe in me and support me by offering encouragement. My grandparents, parents, siblings, and in-laws all support me through love and encouragement. My friends care about me, encourage me, and will also listen when I just need to vent.
Without the support of my faith, all my family, and many friends, then I could live but it would not be a pleasant life. I feel I would be depressed and very isolated. They help me remain grounded. I feel their support influences who I am and how I live. I feel without them by my side, then I would just function and not really enjoy life and all life has to offer. I feel when problems arise, then I would not know how to handle those problems in a positive way if it were not for the love, support, and encouragement I receive from my family, friends, and faith.
Practical Supports
I have many practical supports that help make my life easier every day. I consider things such as technology, appliances, transportation, and tools to be practical supports. Technology is a big part of my daily life. I use my cell phone to communicate with family, friends, and others. I use it to contact professionals or other resources that I need or want. Transportation helps me get to my job, the grocery store, etc. Appliances help me cook and clean. Various tools such as grocery lists, “to do” lists, daily planners, books, etc. help me to remember important times, dates, items, etc. Monetary supports help me purchase wants and needs to live and function on a daily basis.
Without these practical supports it would be difficult to live and function. If I did not have a reliable car to get me places, then I would not be able to work, get to places to purchase things I need, go to the doctor, travel to people and places, etc. If I did not use appliances, then it would be harder to cook and clean. Long ago people would cook and clean by hand and I can only imagine how difficult it was to provide the basics for their families. If it were not for technology then, I would not be able to communicate with people in my life on a regular basis. Technology helps me know how my family and friends are doing almost instantly when I am not with them. They can call, text, or email me things that are taking place in their lives. Technology helps me learn new things, receive emails, read about the news, and even shop. We could live without these supports, but it would just take longer and we would be limited in what resources we had access to. Before technology people would travel to the library to use their various resources. If I did not use lists, planners, etc., then I know I would end up forgetting something. These types of supports help me to remember important things and take stress off of me in trying to remember things. If I did not have money, then I could not purchase foods, clothes, water, etc. My personal safety, health, hygiene, and luxuries (such as entertainment) would be at risk without money as a support.
Physical Supports
I have been blessed with my physical health. I am able to talk, see, hear, touch, walk, smell, etc. My physical body works like it should in order to perform daily tasks. I am able to hear people, noises, birds chirping, music, etc. I am able to taste and enjoy foods. I am able to use my brain to think for myself. I am able to see what is going on around me, read a book, and enjoy watching every day events. I am able to feed myself, communicate for myself, and perform other physical daily tasks without the assistance of others.
If any of these were unable to be used, then my daily life would be more difficult. If I could not hear, then I would struggle to understand things or people around me. I would have to learn to understand what people were trying to tell me through other supports such as sight. It would be difficult to function day to day.
I tried to imagine the challenge of being deaf. It would be difficult to communicate with others and understand what others were trying to communicate with me. It would be hard to learn at school, have friends, and enjoy every day life experiences. It would be difficult to have a job as an adult. I would need support in communicating with others. The person would need to either know sign language or be able to write or gesture what they were trying to explain/tell me. I would need to be able to process the information. I would not have knowledge of things such as music, normal every day sounds, etc. I would have to use my other senses to support my awareness of things occurring around me. One example would be that if I was walking down the road, there was a car coming, then I would need to use my sense of sight to know to be on alert. Daily life would be more of a challenge and I would have to rely on other supports whether it be myself, other people, or tools to help me function in life.
