There is nothing like a great inspirational book to get the year started. A couple of books have been published recently by people with disabilities that can help fire you up to chase those dreams and goals!
31 Years to Peel a Banana
The memoirs of Phyllis Woolf, published by Batya Bricker Book Projects and Helco Promotions, take you on a journey through the 70-year-old’s life with all its adventures, reminding readers what is possible when we take responsibility for who we are.
Woolf is a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. She only has partial use of her right hand and uses a scooter to get around. In spite of the challenges that this might bring in an inaccessible society, Woolf completed her degree, enjoyed true love thrice in her lifetime, built a house, went parasailing and scuba-diving, swam with dolphins, rode an elephant in Zambia and travelled the world!
Her advice: “Celebrate your achievements. More important, perhaps, is to celebrate the journey towards those achievements. Nothing is impossible unless we make it so. I have come to understand that I can have anything I want when I take responsibility for my choices.”
Priced at about R220, the book is available at selected bookstores or at Takealot.com.
Maariyah
Based on author Zubeida Bux’s life, Maariyah is the story of a young woman who comes to terms with the unfair hand she was dealt but learns that there are still many adventures to be had, including finding the essence of love in the eyes of an infant.
Bux was diagnosed with polio at the age of nine and has a physical disability. She has owned her own company and pursued a career in tourism; adopted two boys from a war-torn country as a single parent; travelled and enjoyed numerous adventures, such as jet-skiing.
According to Bux, the book is aimed at single women, people passionate about adoption, individuals with physical disabilities and anybody facing heartache or depression. Maariyah will be sold on Amazon and Takealot.com in March, according to the author. At time of going to press, the book was not yet available yet.
