Whenever I do a school anti-bullying presentation, or self-advocacy training sessions with students who have disabilities, I always tell them “You are not defined by your labels.”

Too often, society tries to limit our personal growth by giving us each a label. Labels are nothing more than ready-made categories created by others who really don’t know who we are, or what the Word of God declares about us. By accepting those labels, we inadvertently give them permission to reduce us to a type.

I remember when I was in middle school, my teacher labeled me a “lazy student,” because she thought if only I tried harder I could get better grades. But what she didn’t understand was that I was already working twice as hard as the other students in the class. It wasn’t that I couldn’t learn, I just learned differently.

Thank goodness my mom wouldn’t let me accept that label and taught me that I had unlimited potential. YOU also have unlimited potential, we all do!

 

That’s why I created this website, the  Instagram account Label_Me_Brave, and the social media hashtags  #BRAVElabels and #labelmeBRAVE to encourage and create more diversity and inclusion for people of all abilities.

Hope you enjoy it, and more importantly learn something new from it. Please feel free to share your experiences and comment on this account. Sharing is how we all grow and learn. So let’s all grow #BRAVE together!

Love to all,

XOXO

Olivia

Miss Oklahoma Volunteer 2024