WEBVTT

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[Music]

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one out of five people in the United

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States has a disability most

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disabilities are hidden what we find is

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that people that have not experienced

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disabilities in their own life

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feel that they need to

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um stay away as much as they can

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because of the uncomfortable unfamiliar

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what we're looking to do is make people

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more familiar with with the concept of

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disabilities there's been a a big push

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nationally um to create some resources

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to to help organizations that use

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volunteers understand um and and be able

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to have some tools to um to be inclusive

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to let everybody be able to come and

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volunteer and use whatever talents here

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she

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has what people in

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need should understand is that if

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there's

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assistance it's about helping not about

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the person it's about the process it's

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about the hope that things will get

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better or easier for those in need

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despite whatever they are that are the

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people who are helping out uh just as

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you have disabled individuals building

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houses for disabled individuals how much

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better can that be it's important about

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giving and taking both ways not about

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the person the disability whatever it is

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I'm doing H to assist in terms of the

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time that I that I give I know that I

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get back uh the Gratitude the thanks

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from those who are in need and those who

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are helped and that's enough for me so

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each experience is important one of the

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things we know about volunteering is

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that the the coming together with the

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community that it provides that sense of

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social connection and the opportunity to

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give back is so beneficial for everyone

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not just psychologically and spiritually

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but physically as well people live

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longer when they join with their

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communities in activities like

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volunteering they are healthier they

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have less pain they have less disability

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we're here we made it alive beautiful

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sunny Hawaii I'm ready to pound I'm

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ready to hammer and I'm ready to work I

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that uh a lot of times people are

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apprehensive uh approaching me and

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talking to me because of my

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disability uh I think people don't mean

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to be sometimes people um will talk to

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if I'm out with my wife they'll talk to

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my wife instead of me and something just

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uh happened to me uh when I was at the

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airport uh getting getting ticketed the

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guy would never hand me back my tickets

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he always handed them to my wife and

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would always ask my wife questions about

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me and I'm like I'm right here I'm right

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here I can hear you I know what you're

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saying you know I think we all get kind

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of caught up in doing our own thing and

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kind of step outside

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and volunteer our time and you know give

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back to the community you know people

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think maybe if you have a disability you

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can't really contribute to the to the

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volunteer movement or whatever it is you

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know and I think it's important I just

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think it's really important to to

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society that you know people with

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disabilities are out there making a

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difference in the world I got pulled

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over and the policeman instead of coming

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up to my door like they usually do and

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saying oh how do you drive and do you

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have a license and wow Isn't that cool

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instead he got on his speaker and said I

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need to see your hands out the window

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right now and when I

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shouted I don't have any arms he pulled

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his gun out and I could see him in my

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rearview mirror behind his door he was

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ready to shoot the one thing in the

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world he was asking of me was the very

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one thing that I could not comply

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with as much as I wanted to I think

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anytime a person with a disability goes

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out and lives their life unashamed and

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unafraid then they are in a sense giving

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a message I find that as people get

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older in terms of social stigmas

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they're less uh willing

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to understand diversity and differences

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in people historically um there have

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been misconceptions as any Civil Rights

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Movement people with

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disabilities

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have in large been one of the last

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Frontiers that still exist I think

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because of the fear that people have the

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that they're unfamiliar with certain

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situations the more familiar we are with

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every as ECT of life that seems to be

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uncomfortable then we become more

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understanding and more

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compassionate when I was first asked to

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help with Nancy I kind of I was thinking

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of what a blind person could really do

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if you ask them what they need to do a

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job once you describe what that job is

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they will tell you what they need to do

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it or if that's not a good match uh so

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it's not it's not rocket science you

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need to deal directly with the person

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you're trying to engage in a particular

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task and they will tell you uh if they

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need an accommodation I was very nervous

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I didn't know what to expect uh I never

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hammered

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Nails especially building a house and I

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found that with with the guidance from

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people who knew what was going on they

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could help line me up everybody was so

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wonderful being able to work with

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somebody with that disability has opened

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my mind on what people with disabilities

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can really do since I do a lot of work

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in Corporate America if they have some

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one in their Workforce that has a

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disability how should they treat them my

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response is no differently than you

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treat anybody else people are are are

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much more um alike than they are

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different when you look at somebody who

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has a visible disability you may have

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preconceived ideas of what they will be

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able to accomplish what I would say is

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try to take those preconceived notions

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away and look at the possibilities they

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may bring we can take disability and

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turn it into possibility differences in

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life doesn't mean

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deficit it just means different if I

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volunteer to help or to do something

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it's because I want to be a part of the

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solution or a part of the team or and

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and I actually want to

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help when

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somebody who doesn't know you very well

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hasn't lived in your skin for your

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entire life sort of assumes that they

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have a better idea of what you're

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capable of than you do is a very common

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misconception some people have made

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assumptions when I do try to do do some

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type of of work and they assume that

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that maybe I'm not capable of doing that

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because of my disability the

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straightforward questions are always the

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best way then you can kind of take away

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as much awkwardness as possible

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accommodating volunteers with

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disabilities um you usually means just

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thinking a little bit more creatively

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about the tasks that need to be done

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approach the volunteers the way you

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would approach any volunteer saying this

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is what we need to be done um how do you

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think you could do that if we can be

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open to um suggestions for other ways

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something can be done then people can

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come up with um amazingly creative and

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effective Solutions we hope um people

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will realize when they're outreaching to

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to people to volunteer in their programs

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is

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to remember maybe not even the word

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remember but to think about outreaching

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to volunteers with disabilities in any

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of their programs it is disappointing if

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somebody says I don't think you should

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do that I don't think you can do this or

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that for

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example to assume that a person who uses

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a wheelchair could only do

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a job on a computer is just false and

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and to assume that I would be a

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professional soccer player instead of

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guitar player

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is is just it's just a false assumption

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we we can't judge a book by its cover we

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shouldn't pick our dreams based on what

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a perceived limitation is we should

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decide what we want to do and then find

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a way to do it and that goes I think

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across the board for all of us we need

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to

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open up our perceptions a little bit

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[Music]

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more but you don't know who I am who are

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you where do you come from and where do

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you go and if I send an

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invitation to my world would you come

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and stare and if I had a chance to sing

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my

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song this is what I'd say we all the

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same then you may think yeah you and me

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we are the same does anybody really have

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to take the

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blame we are the same we more the same

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than you may think said you and me we

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are the same and it's a shame to be

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ashamed you had your head don't hide

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your heart you turn it off so you don't

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fall apart when you see that man walk by

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got his whole life in the shopping C so

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you side you don't

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cry then you wonder why you're so alone

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we are more the same than you may think

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yeah you me we are the same it doesn't

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anybody have to take the blame no we are

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the same we more the same you may think

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said you me we are the same it's a shame

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to be

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ashame I don't want you to look the

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other way fumble around thinking what to

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say wouldn't want to be anybody else and

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I'm okay with

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myself cuz we all the same

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[Music]

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you