We recently had a reader ask how it is possible to maintain hope, faith and optimism, etc. when “everything” is slipping away. She stated she does not want this disease because she had watched it “destroy” others. Her friends do not want to associate with her because of the “doom” she is facing.
Oh, my…where to start. First of all, I guess I need to say “I’m with you! I don’t want the damn thing either.” But wanting it or not wanting it really does not make a bit of difference. We do not get to make decisions like that in our lives. We only get to accept (or reject, but if you fight reality, I can practically guarantee you will waste a whole lot of energy and in the end, still lose. To paraphrase “I fight reality, reality always wins!”). We also can find ways of coping.
That appears to be a magic word: cope. This is not a fatal disease. If you are still breathing and conscious, you are capable of dealing with things and trying to make them better. Your hope is in every breath you take. Breath.
Remember one of my favorite people whom I never met, Viktor Frankl, said “the last freedom left to any man is determining how he will react to his circumstances.” This disease will not destroy us. It may take things from us, but not destroy us. We destroy ourselves through our reactions to it.
Our reader may not realize it, but she IS coping. She reached out to this website. She has sought professional help and she is involved with the state services for the visually handicapped. She is doing what she can do.
We don’t have to like having AMD and losing sight. We don’t have to be happy about it. We just have to keep moving. I mentioned this before but another one of my favorite, never met people, Winston Churchill, said something like “when you are going through Hell, keep going!” It is in pouting and denying reality – in stopping in the middle of Hell – that we are destroyed.
To address the part about being hopeful, optimistic, etc, a bit more, there are times all of those pretty thoughts are going to desert us. Times there seems – as in appearances and impressions – there is no hope. Those are the times we simply put one foot in front of the other. Determine what is next and do it.
I have been told I am “in love” with DBT. I am, for the simple reason it works. Mindfulness and staying in the moment work.
For example, the Beastie Baby has been diagnosed with lung cancer, but right now she is sleeping peacefully on the floor next to me. Right now, life is good. We will take one day at a time, one hour, one moment if need be. We will not grieve (much) and ruin life when things are good. Lesson: stay in the moment. Deal with the now. By dealing with each moment as it comes, we can handle a scary future. Buying future grief and hardship is a bad investment.
I could address the absolutes – always, never, everything – but I won’t. Not much, at any rate. We just need to remember few things in life are truly that black and white, that cut and dry. Every dark cloud has a silver lining and every silver cloud has some dark inside.
This has been a little jumbled, but that, after all, is my mind. I guess in summary, what I want to say is:
Accept this is happening, Recognize you are not powerless, we all have choices we can make.
Understand if we take care of each moment as it comes, the future will take care of itself. Don’t get ahead of yourself.
We don’t need to be hopeful or optimistic all of the time (even though there is reason for hope). If you cannot muster any faith in your future, just put one foot in front of the other and move. You will be surprised where you end up.