Yesterday I was talking to my mom about one of her patients (she's a homecare dietitian). He is a 20 year old guy, and wants nothing more in the world than to be an auto mechanic and inherit his grandfather's limo business. Unfortunately, he has severe diabetes and epilepsy, so he had to drop out of the auto mechanic school he was going to because his seizures were so bad. My mom was telling me how he resents his unablilty to get a job because of his health more than his health itself. I believe this is the case with many unhealthy or disabled people. Their unablity to be useful hurts them more psychologically than their diseases do physically.
This reminded me of back in September when I broke my finger, and had to wear a splint on it. I was supposed to keep the splint on for two or three weeks, but I ended up taking it off after two days because I couldn't stand the fact that I couldn't do anything with my right hand. It doesn't matter to me that my finger is now crooked, because my right hand would have been useless during those two weeks if I hadn't taken it off.
So, do you all think that being useful is worth a blow to a person's health?
-Audrey
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I definitely agree that people feel a strong urge to feel useful. My aunt and uncle, a judge and a teacher respectively, recently retired and one of the things they've noticed is that they have nothing to do anymore. Because of this, they've started volunteering alot and are planning on joining the Peace Corps in order to maintain a feeling of usefulness to society.
ReplyDeleteAlong with them, I've heard countless stories of retired or laid off people who have taken up some other form of work, even if it is without pay, in order to get a sense of self satisfaction.
-Bryce Cody
While I think people's desire to forsake their physical well-being in certain situations to be more useful can be legitimate (see Audrey's finger story), I think it's often smarter to prize one's health over one's usefulness. Rushing to be useful with the risk of detriment to one's health could limit future usefullness, whereas waiting until one is completely healthy ensures that one can be more useful for more time.
ReplyDelete-Colin
P.S.
I agree with Colin. I think one should look out for his or her health before focusing on how useful he or she can be to the oommunity. After all, how can you possibly be of any use if you injure yourself due to lack of self-concern? Some injuries that are not treated correctly can become permanent. Recover from your injuries before doing anything for anyone else.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't take care of yourself, then you certainly cannot help others.
-Chloe Martianou
Personally, I can see the frustration from having to nurse one's health while feeling useless. I injured myself running this fall, and it really stinks to not be out on the road. Worse than that, I don't know when or if I'll recover. The best I can do is to rest (both body and mind) and hope that I'll heal.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we can do is to be satisfied with the work we are able to do. Like Bryce's aunt and uncle, we need to find the ways in which we can be most productive and effective in our work. And in the present, we know that some day we'll break down and get old, so we might as well use up the abilities we have while they last. Like the ancient artifacts in a museum, we'll have a story to tell and wisdom to share when we're done.
(emily)