14 songs that helped me to love my disability

It’s no secret that I’m a huge music fan, I love going to concerts, especially to see my favourite bands and artists live, playing the flute was such a huge part of my childhood and teenage years, and there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t listen to music – whether it’s the radio or blasting my favourite tunes.

Delving deeper, music is a huge part of my life, hand on my heart I can say that it’s helped me a lot with my disability. I haven’t always been the most confident person, and I most certainly went on my own journey of acceptance with my disability. As well as the support of my friends and family, music has always guided me through the tough times and picked me up when I’ve needed it.

It’s given me motivation, determination and strength whenever I’ve needed it most.

 

There are some songs that have helped me learn to love my disability, songs that have inspired me and never fail to motivate me. So I thought that I would share those with you, the songs that hold a special place in my heart, the ones that truly mean a lot to me and that I can relate to in some way.

This post is something a bit different but by sharing a few of the songs that have helped me over the years, I hope that they may also help others.

There is a saying ‘when words fail, music speaks’ and I think that’s true!

 

So here are the songs that have helped me learn to love my disability and ones that inspire me.

 

Jessie J – Who You Are

There’s no doubt about it, this is my all-time favourite song. I’ve supported Jessie since her YouTube days and when I heard this song, I instantly fell in love with it because of the lyrics.

Lyrics such as “seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing, it’s ok not to be ok” have stuck with me. One of the most important lyrics for me is “just be true to who you are”, that lyric is something that I have stood by ever since.

Through that song, I felt like Jessie was telling me that it’s ok to have a disability and it may define me in many ways, but I’m also so much more than my disability so I shouldn’t be anyone but myself. I should embrace my disability because it’s part of who I am and there’s nothing wrong with that. But most importantly, it’s ok to have down days.

“Seeing is deceiving” is also a lyric that is rather special to me because of my vision impairment and I’m able to interpret it in my own, unique way.

 

Shawn Mendes – Never Be Alone

This song is like a hug… No matter what you’re going through, you are never alone.

It made me realise that just because I have a disability, I’m not on my own and there are people that love me for who I am.

No matter how you are feeling, there is always someone there and you are never alone.

 

Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful

We all have things about us that we don’t like, certain things we’d like to change but this song tells you to embrace that and love yourself, love the way you look and be proud of who you are. It reminds me that I should be proud of my disability and be proud of the person I am.

The lyric “you should know you’re beautiful just the way you are” is something that I think we should all remember.

 

Jessie J – Stand Up

This song gave me the motivation to succeed and achieve the things I want to, despite having a disability. Some people may think that a disability is a barrier to success, but that’s not true at all, so don’t let their ideas define your future.

We should all strive for happiness, to succeed and achieve.

 

Shawn Mendes – A Little Too Much

In life it’s almost inevitable that we all go through moments when we feel like things are getting too much and we can often feel overwhelmed. This song is a reminder that we all have those times, but we have to remember that things will work out and we will get through it.

It’s ok to feel like things are overwhelming, it’s ok to feel the pressure, it’s ok to cry and it’s 100% ok to talk about it and let it all out.

Having a disability means that we often face obstacles and countless barriers so this song is a reminder to never give up and don’t stop fighting for the things we’re entitled to.

“sometimes it all gets a little too much but you’ve got to realise that soon the fog will clear up”

 

Jessie J – Harder We Fall

This song was released whilst I was in the middle of my A-levels, at a time whilst I was applying for University and didn’t really know what career path I wanted to go down. I’m not ashamed to admit that my a-levels weren’t a good time for me, I wasn’t happy with various aspects of them, from not embracing my disability, to feeling rather isolated from my year group and struggling with self-confidence.

It’s a reminder that we all go on the wrong path sometimes, and even if things don’t go the way we want them to, we just try again, because we will eventually get on the right path. It’s a reminder to never stop striving for success and happiness.

 

Ariana Grande – Get Well Soon

This is such a personal song to Ariana, but the lyrics are so meaningful. It’s a reminder that we need to be there for each other and it has a message of hope and support, no matter what you’re going through or what you’re facing.

It’s a message of positivity which we all need at times.

 

Jessie J – Masterpiece

This song resonates with me because it’s primarily about living up to a potential. We may compare ourselves to others, but it’s about being yourself, living your own dreams and going at your own pace.

As a disabled person, I am often called an inspiration, I’ve found myself being compared to other disabled people – those that have achieved or doing things that I haven’t but I’m on my own journey, I’m achieving my own things and that’s important to remember.

“I’m still perfectly incomplete, I’m still working on my masterpiece” is one of the lyrics that I think we can all relate to.

I’ve met many people who haven’t looked beyond my disability, so the lyric “those who mind don’t matter, those who matter don’t mind” most definitely reflects this and it’s something that has stuck with me ever since. Surrounding yourself with people who love you for the person you are is key.

 

Shawn Mendes – Hold On

The lyrics to this song are incredible. We all go through times and have moments when we want to give up, but no matter how hard things get, we’ve got to just keep going and get through it, we are stronger than we think.

 

Ed Sheeran – Save Myself

The final lyric in this song says it all really “and before I love someone else, I’ve got to love myself”, it means that loving ourselves is the most important thing. For me, it meant learning to love the person I am, including my disability.

 

Jessie J – Easy On Me

WE all put pressure on ourselves, whether it’s to get good grades, look a certain way or achieve our goals, we all do it at some point. As a disabled person, I have found myself comparing myself to other disabled people doing the same or similar things to me.

But in reality, we all need to take a step back and go easy on ourselves. We can often be our own worst critics, but we are probably doing absolutely fine and putting too much pressure on ourselves.

Jessie’s R.O.S.E album is an album of growth, love, not giving up and acceptance which her music has helped me with. For me, this song always reminds me that I’m doing ok in life and to go easy on myself.

 

Shawn Mendes – In my Blood

This is the motivational anthem we all need! The first time I heard this song I instantly fell in love with it, the message Shawn portrays in this song is something that I think we all need at times.

This song is a constant reminder to never give up no matter what, no matter how hard things get.

 

JLS – Hold Me Down

This song basically says no matter what, nothing can stop you from achieving and getting to where you want to be in life.

In terms of my disability, I really think this song has helped me defy the expectations and get to where I want to be.

 

Shawn Mendes – Youth

This is such a powerful song with a very empowering message, if you listen to the lyrics then you will know exactly what I mean.

The song is about the tragic events that happen in the world, but I think it is one of those songs that stops us from what we’re doing and makes us think.

We will not beaten by all the hate in the world, and the only thing that conquer hate is love.

I’ve loved the song since it was released because I love the message behind it.

It really struck a chord with me when I heard it live back in April.

In the middle of the song, Shawn did a speech which left me feeling inspired but also rather emotional. He said “no matter how old, no matter how young you are, you are the people who have the power to change the world for the better.”, the arena then sang the chorus at the top of their lungs. That moment left me feeling on top of the world, and like I can help create change for disabled people. I think that song has such a deep message, but a driving force.

 

Those are the songs that have helped me to love my disability. Music is truly powerful and it can help people in so many ways.

 

As you can tell from this post, there are a lot of Jessie J and Shawn Mendes songs in this list but I think that shows how much of an impact a band or artist can have on a person’s life and how they can really help us.

 

I’ve put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that mean a lot to me – those songs that give me some motivation when I need it and the songs that have really inspired me, feel free to check it out if you’re in need of a bit of motivation.

This post is really personal to me and one that I know I’ll look back on in the future, but I hope that it has helped others as well.

If you need something to listen to to get you back on track or give you a bit of motivation then why not give some of these songs a listen? For me, they really put everything into perspective.

 

What songs have helped you love your disability or what are the songs that have inspired you? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.

 

Holly x