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A Vulnerable Moment with Mike Iannelli

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By Mike Iannelli

Are you leading the life you were intended to?  I often asked myself this very question. It has taken me 46 years to say “yes”, with assurance, confidence, and conviction. Through trauma we often find our true life’s purpose. Why does it take something so severe, so heartbreaking, so life shattering and so catastrophic, for us to find our true self? From having been on the side of “living through the motions,” I would do it all again if I knew the outcome would be as enlightening.

My moment, an extremely painful and enduring crisis happened just under 3 years ago. The “perfect storm” often referred to as a critical situation, arising from several negative and unpredictable factors. The precise moment when all things that can possibly go sideways do, and often are life altering. Shattering. For me, it was. I believed I had lost everything that was important to me… but most importantly, I lost myself.

Looking back, I had lost my way, or in retrospect…maybe, I found my real self. 

I had received the most amazing gifts. The gift of silence. The gift of acceptance. The gift of awareness. The gift of understanding. Most importantly, the gift of grace.

“I once was lost, but now I am found. Was blind but now I see.”  

These past few years have provided the most profound moments of my life. Along the long road to redemption, I found something. I found God. I found Ablr. I found Me.

We have choices in life. Our life’s circumstances shape our perspectives. It is not a “fault” of anyone, it is merely just life. A life I am grateful to have. Profound growth begins with profound accountability.  We owe it to ourselves and the one’s around us to be open to learning, growing, and evolving. People can change. Others will judge, others will criticize, and some may even condemn, but in the end, the purpose of my life is one of self-improvement, forgiveness, and fine tuning. And I am at peace with this.

Have you ever experienced something so genuine, so meaningful, and so good?  A consolidation of good people, with good intentions who have a greater purpose to do good. This is Ablr. Where amazing things happen every day. A place of purpose. A place of fun. This is what I found.

Simply put, Ablr helps us all become the people we are meant to be.  Accepted. Included. Respected. Loved. A true sense of belonging, and so beautifully said by my Friend, Co-Founder and Business Partner, John Samuel at his recent Ted Talk.

At Ablr, we collaborate with amazing people who are so much more to us then “clients.” They are friends, advocates, leaders, and family. Like-minded people who choose to make a difference.

Ablr has become a leading disability inclusion and accessibility company supporting a variety of businesses, school systems, non-profits, software companies, government, museums, to become inclusive and accessible so all people are welcome and belong.  

As people, we are stronger together. Put your life in perspective.  We must learn from those who have come before us. Stop. Smell the flowers. Hear the birds. Taste the sweetness. See the possibilities. I did. I am so grateful I did.