Cant Do, Wont Do!?

I think the perception of the Able Bodied world is that when you become disabled, you suddenly can't function in the physical world and that you need a carer for every waking hour of your life. Of course it entirely depends on the severity of your disability, but it irks me that people see my chair, assume my husband is my carer and that I'm pretty incapable of most things. Why I need a carer to go to a concert I don't know, but hey its a free ticket!!

Anyway I pride myself on the fact that I can do most things most of the time. Usually it requires a bit of lateral thinking and the old saying "try, try, try, again". However there are probably half a dozen activities that either have me beat, or the effort is just too great, so its not worth it.

• Gardening is probably the number 1 activity. Its a pity because I actually like doing the garden and I'm happy to potter around and chop things, weed and I can even mow the grass on a dry day. But when it comes to the big things, and especially digging, forget it. I just cant physically do it. I know last year I spent a lot of time sitting on my bottom doing flower beds, its a long time for a small gain.
• DIY. I used to be Mrs DIY. In the past Ive loved doing every job you can imagine around the house, Ive tiled, plumbed, decorated and even had a go at simple electrics. I have a huge selection of tools sitting in our shed which haven't been used in a long time. The main problem is that most things you want to do are for some reason up high, so pretty much out of reach for me. I'm still happy to sit on a chair and do painting however.
• The Car. I used to do a lot of car maintenance and now I just can't reach to do it which is annoying. Ill have a go at washing and cleaning the car, but with only limited success.
• Putting the rubbish out and taking the wheely bins down. No can't do it and I'm not even trying!
• Beds. I find stripping and making beds very hard work so I'm glad my husband does it instead.
• Washing up. I have always hated it so now I have a reason not to do it!!

So there we have it. I will still have a go at most of these things but the results are usually pretty dire. I'm learning that its sometimes better to be pragmatic and accept defeat than keep banging my head very hard while trying to show I'm all things to all people all the time.