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Writer's pictureSHANE MICHAEL TAYLOR

When Life Doesn’t Go Our WayA Severely Disabled Guy’s Perspective On Hopelessness

We all have times when life seems unstable. We often get a bit discouraged and sometimes feel hopeless when something does not go as planned. In these times, especially after a series of events that don’t turn out our way, it’s easy to feel like we’re not good enough or we’re not worthy of what we had hoped for. We wonder if we’ll ever get better and if life will ever work out.

We all have dreams, goals and wants in life, but I have learned that it is the underlying desire that’s really important and all that matters. I will explain what I mean, but before I do, I need to provide some context.

I was born with a severe form of Cerebral Palsy, which includes a debilitating speech impairment, which means it takes others a while to learn how to listen when I speak, so they understand what I say. Because of that, communication and connecting with others in a deep and meaningful way, has always been a challenge, even to this day. That is what drove me to music, and specifically country music.

There’s a song that I co-wrote called “Feel Good Side of Life”. At the start of the song, the kid wonders the exact same things I listed above. He’s a college graduate who’s looking for a job and gets a taste of the real world. He applies to any job he could find but nothing seems to be working out. He gets very discouraged when he sees a baseball player his age on TV hitting his first home run in the major leagues.

He wonders what he’s doing wrong. He envies the player and wonders what it must feel like as everybody at the game cheers for him. He feels lost, alone and shut out.


I can relate to the way he feels. As I mentioned earlier, my speech impairment makes communication with others a challenge. As a result of this, I sometimes get discouraged and feel like I’m missing out on everything — especially having deep and meaningful relationships/connections with others. This challenge was magnified at the time that I graduated college and entered the real world.

I graduated with high honors and a bunch of skills and talents — along with some great leads to major media companies. Most of them are in the Fortune 500 and boast that they are equal opportunity employers. I was called in for countless job interviews where they loved me on paper, but the second the hiring managers laid eyes on me, I clearly sensed that the interview was already over before it began. They went through the motions and I gave them my best, but the minute I rolled out the door, I never heard from them again. After many months of this routine, I began to feel pretty hopeless and wondered if anything was ever going to work out.

But I never stopped believing in myself. Deep inside, I knew that something just had to work out sooner or later. I had faith in myself, my abilities, most importantly, in my dreams. I knew I was put here for a reason and had a purpose to fulfill.


Fast forward a few years and here I am, writing this article and giving an in depth background to another one of my songs. It has been a long road full of detours and speedbumps. But I kept going. I now have a career that fulfills my deepest desires — I get to connect with others through writing and music like I never could before.

I’m very grateful for all of the things that did not work out exactly as I wanted them to. Because if they did I would not have had the chance to find what I was really looking for; to feel loved and accepted — and to be connecting and relating to other people in such a raw and honest way. It took me until very recently to realize this.

In “Feel Good Side Of Life”, the kid (now a fully matured adult) only realized what he really wanted after living and experiencing life for a few years, and gets to the proudest moment of his life — when he coaches his son’s little league game and they hug each other after he hits a home run.


t often takes a lot of time and patience to realize what we really want deep down. There is no magic wand in life and it does not happen overnight, but if we keep believing in ourselves and stay true to who we are as individuals, life has a way of working out, often much better than we expect.

Keep going and never stop believing in yourself, even when you feel totally hopeless and everything seems to be going wrong. You are not alone. We all feel hopeless sometimes.

Even if it’s the darkest hour of your life, you are good enough — and strong enough — to prevail through the tough times. Each one of us has a purpose — and we are all worthy of realizing our deepest desires that fuel our ability to fulfill our own unique purpose in life.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this piece. Please send me a personal message from my facebook page. For more inspiration, click here.

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1 Comment


I don't have Spotify so I can't listen to the whole song but the piece I could hear sounds great. Very compelling, honest and inspirational. Great job. You're always in my thoughts. In a classroom or 10,000 miles away. Connected forever. Love. Uncle Rich



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