challenges of the present

I got a new temporary(till I go back to Singapore) job working with Meghan, a 17-year-old intellectually disabled girl after school from Mon-Fri. I always relish the opportunity of a new challenge, but this one has really gotten me stuck in a rut! It is my 3rd day into the job and I am running out of ideas to sustain Meghan's interest! I am running out of Martha Stewart's craft suggestions that she is capable of doing...

Apart from that, I am glad that I found this job. I am definitely not proclaiming it to be a breeze as I have been finding myself trying to come up with something new to do with her everyday, but there is so much to learn from a disabled girl who sees the world differently. Seriously, I come from Singapore, and where I come from, disabled children aren't integrated into society like they are here. As a result, apart from the 6hours of community work you're forced to do, you really aren't exposed to very much of the real world, the real world where not everyone comes out perfect and smart and capable of everything.

I see Meghan go about her day-to-day activities with a huge amount of deliberation and effort and I realise how much I take for granted. Say for example, I take for granted the fact that I can watch a movie and understand it completely after that, whereas for someone intellectually-challenged, even after watching it multiple times, your brain simply can't understand even the basic storyline. Meghan has watched Finding Nemo about a million times, and is only just slowly beginning to grasp the gist of the story.

It is such a cliche, but everyday I am reminded that life really is more than just about being rich and having fun, fun and more fun.