Tell YOUR Story!

November 3rd, 2011 by Ali Anne

I was totally shocked. I know that some people have different views of illness and life and death etc. but to come face to face with such a very different mentality about suffering, productively, and life made me feel like the wind was knocked out of me. I spend a lot of talk communicating with people in various walks of life, many dealing with health issues, many not. This person over time has shown that they have a very different view of illness. Literally mocking people who were sick, claiming that disabled people are 2nd class citizens, and even saying that they don't want any sick person in their family.

I have talked to this particular person before and they always have the attitude of if you aren't "productive" or "healthy" you are nothing more than a burden and a waste of time. I don't know what has influenced this worldview - maybe their parents were harsh toward people who were sick, maybe they have seen disabled people being selfish or not willing to work .. or maybe they fear being sick so much that they have created this mindset. And in fairness - this friend is not very involved in knowing that I even have daily health struggles. But the whole situation got me thinking.

I don't buy into this mindset for a moment. I do know that suffering can make you feel useless at times, and may make you question your place in this world. (believe me I have gone through those stages!) But, I know too many stories of people who faced serious and debilitating health issues yet were amazing productive forces in the world. I also know myself that I wouldn't give up my life for anything - pain and all. I don't think my life is a waste at all and I have a lot of joy even amidst the pain. But what I want from you is YOUR STORY. I want to know what you feel about this issue and why you feel your life is worth living even in the middle of whatever suffering you endure. You can email your stories at differentkindofhappy@gmail.com and your story might just be published here on my blog!

Let's encourage each other and change the mindset that ill health makes life unworthy!

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Comments

IPsurvivor - I am somehow unable to read your entire messages .. so if you could email them to me that would be great! I would love to hear more of your story - but can't get the webpage to let me scrol down on any of your comments. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read and comment. It is very helpful for me to know how my posts come across - in this case very different than what I was intending! I need to learn to be careful when I write because in this situation I was in a hurry

on 11-04-2011 17:04pm by Ali Anne

Comment is currently being reviewed.

I realized that to include part of a conversation was silly - I did it originally because I was in a hurry and also because I didn't want to share details about this person. I've changed the blog post on my blog to reflect a more accurate view of what the belief system I am challanging. I do appreciate the pointing out of how that came across - even though getting some more accurate facts might have helped in passing judgements on my situation. ;)

on 11-04-2011 10:59am by Ali Anne

Clarification: This was a SMALL part of the conversation. This is a person I spend a GREAT deal of time with and have learned over the years that she sees life very differently .. I didn't share the whole conversation because the point here was that some people do not think living with chronic pain or disability is worth living, and I want to challenge that thinking as I believe God can use even those of us who are not in perfect health. Believe me that I spend a GREAT deal of time comforting

on 11-04-2011 10:33am by Ali Anne

You may want to be a little more compassionate with this person. Maybe you might need some training in counseling. What she said, "Knocked the breath out of you"? And the best you could do is tell her it could be worse? that at least she isn't confined to a bed. I sympathize with whatever you are going through but you need to learn the basics: Don't Compare Suffering On a Quantitative Scale" Maybe you should read King Lear by Shakespeare.

on 11-04-2011 09:42am by ipsurvivor

Alianne,
I thank you for your blog and the time you have taken. You obviously care about people who are suffering and I would encourage you to keep this up. I would also encourage to think about some other approaches you can take that might be more helpful to the people you are trying to help.

It might help you to consider certain things about your friend, for example:

1. She wants to be independent. she is frustrated because she can't do what she used to do. This can be traumatic for

on 11-04-2011 09:37am by ipsurvivor

The issue of suffering has always been with us. Literature and Philosophy have explored the questions and the answers are not usually satisfactory. Chronic Pain Syndrome is something I have been dealing with for over 27 years. Intense chronic pain and debilitating headaches for about five years. After my C-5 was ruptured in a car accident the headaches started and never really stopped. Then I experienced an adverse drug reaction called Serotonin Syndrome, which was worse than all the pain I had

on 11-04-2011 07:41am by ipsurvivor