Author’s Note

Every challenge carries a piece of strength within it. Sometimes we just need time, courage, and self-compassion to uncover it. May Josephine’s story remind you that even in your hardest seasons, there is strength waiting to rise.

There were so many challenges in Josephine’s life. Some of them were easier to overcome than others. In a strange way, the challenges she was born with were the ones she learned to handle first. But the challenges that came with living—growing up, fitting in, finding her place—felt heavier than anything her disability ever brought.

There were milestones Josephine was left out of, moments she tried not to let affect her, but they did. No matter how many times she said those moments didn’t matter, the truth was they shaped her. As she got older, she struggled to socialize and find her footing in the world. It took many emotional and physical stumbles for her to understand how the world worked. During that time, life felt like an extra weight pressing down on her. And although she never admitted it out loud, she was quietly drowning in her own self-pity.

People around her often told her that she couldn’t move forward without first understanding herself. For years she fought an internal battle, unable to recognize her own reflection. It wasn’t that she wanted to be known only for her disability—she wanted to be seen for everything else she was. But she kept assuming that everyone only saw her disability. In truth, the only person who viewed Josephine only through that lens was Josephine herself.

When someone sees themselves in a darker light than others do, people eventually tire of trying to pull them out of it. That’s when Josephine finally started seeing herself the way others had always seen her. Somewhere deep within, she found her life jacket—a spark of strength she didn’t know she still had—and began her journey back to shore. It wasn’t easy, but when she made it back, she vowed never to let herself sink like that again.

What she realized was powerful: life is worth living far more than it’s worth tearing yourself down.
And from that realization, Our Beautiful Challenges was born.