I'm 53. According to Vocational Rehabilitation, I am unable to work at a job at all. They've told me twice now that I am unemployable. And they're right, because if I did have a job, I can't guarantee being able to come and work. Heck, I have a volunteer job that's only two days a week, and half the time I can't make it in. If it was a paying job, or anything other than my own church, they'd have already told me by now that they can't use me because I'm absent too much.

Not only that, but there are also many chores around the house that I can't do. I was permanently injured in a car accident.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not without a job; I'm a homemaker. There are those who say that's "not a real job," but they're wrong. The homemaker's job makes life easier for the breadwinner, so he (in this house it's a he) can go out and earn income which supports them both.

But I can't always even do that. Sometimes my husband has to come home from work and do a household chore I wasn't able to do. On high pain days, there's no way I can do heavy jobs like vacuuming and laundry. It makes me feel bad that my husband is playing all of his role, and part of mine too.

Fortunately for me, we're not defined by our disabilities. I can't say my husband doesn't complain, because he does grumble now and then, but he says he's only venting and doesn't expect me to do anything about it. He knows I'm doing the best I can, and that's what matters. If he thought I was just being lazy, THEN we'd have a problem.

And that's what counts. Let's say a rabbit and a giraffe both have to get across the same river. Wouldn't it be a whole lot more challenging for the rabbit? The giraffe can practically walk across in its sleep. The rabbit needs to give it everything it's got, think and plan its strategy, use resources to help it along, and it's going to take longer to get the job done. When the giraffe was on the other side a long time ago, and the rabbit is still hopping from rock to rock, is that the rabbit's fault? Is the rabbit unsuccessful? Heck no. The rabbit's a doggone genius.