I am trying to do this more and more everyday. It is working and I am less anxious! I'm starting to enjoy the process.

I met a person with mild mental retardation and cerebral palsy yesterday who lived in a restrictive group home for 20+ years. She began to advocate for herself about 4-5 years ago to move out on her own. It took 3 years, waiting through a battle with breast cancer, facility politics, and funding issues, but she moved out on her own in December. I asked her if she considered her life better now. She told me, "Yes, but remember; while waiting for what you want in life, don't forget to live your life because it is passing you by all the time."

Sage words. Sometimes I find the developmentally disabled I work with to be more emotionally intelligent than those of us with average, above average, or genius IQ's.