Going bananas..?

You could go mad here, as Hugh Marriott (The Selfish Pig's Guide to Caring, Time Warner, 2003, p. 165) warns : "Isolated. Cut off. On your own. Going bananas."

As a form of solitary confinement, as part of an impossible struggle - people with ME are the least able to actively protest against their continued oppression , as an object of attack and ridicule, not least from other ME "activists", the situation you can easily find yourself in as a carer, year after year without change, is make no mistake, likely to stretch your sanity to the limits.

I have no idea if I have survived the last 16 years unscathed; but let me shout this out : the human spirit is NEVER limited !

Ralph Waldo Emerson says it much better than me :

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded."

This is a recipe for survival.

Comments

  1. sandaSeptember 14, 2009 at 11:31 AM

    As one of the people with CFS (as said here)/ME,
    I have had long periods of isolation since onset of my illness at the end of 1981. Recent ability to use computer some, alleviates some of the isolation. Yes, it's very hard to fight for ourselves, for justice for those of us who are ill. Since I was welcomed, here in the US, by the disability community, before I had a diagnosis (a whole, long story), I feel a closeness to people with all kinds of disabilities.

    I appreciate your work and your wife. (Smiling).

    ReplyDelete

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