I am obviously subconsciously incredibly vain. I love my clothes, bags and make up and try not to look too shabby on a daily basis ; so being told I had to have a walking frame did not go down overly well.
I have a brain injury and am at huge risk from falls which could and is quite likely too cause further damage. So obviously, taking this into account it’s a no brainer (that pun was not intended but did make me chuckle), I need to use a frame.
However, using a frame I would look disabled. People would look at me differently.
The reality is that firstly people stop me constantly as my walker is very cool and people love the concept of a mobility aid that is stylish yet practical; or people come across very perplexed as they can’t really understand why a wannabe trendy 34 year old would be using a walking frame. I can almost see them trying to work out what is wrong with me. However the moral to this story is that in reality no one is particularly bothered about whether I have a frame or not and that actually I am now safe when out and about, I can do so much more and frankly needed a little bit of getting over myself.
In a nutshell, feeling safe is a game changer.
In reality, the people we worry are judging us are probably only worrying about something they are self conscious about so really we should just do less worrying.