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There Is Life After Disability AM ALIVE! Happy New Year! Hello, 2004! If you are continuing to contend with a disability, or if you are facing a new health challenge that gets you down, remember that there is life after disability. 10 years ago, if anyone would have told me that I would be forced to retire due to the progression of my neurological disease, I would not have believed it. I would not have believed that my career as a pastor would have come to an end, nor that my income would be cut by 40%, nor that I would have to walk around in the house with a walker and walk around town with two canes. But 5 years ago I was at the Mayo Clinic over the New Year holiday, making just such decisions. As I discussed my fate with the doctors at the Clinic, everything looked dark and depressing. I would not have believed that life could go on and be good. I would not have believed that I could live in my own house, make new friends, or enjoy participating in community activities. I would not have believed that I could enjoy taking a hike through the beautiful Whitewater Gorge on my electric scooter, or enjoy stepping out onto my deck with my walker and cooking a steak dinner on the grill in the snow. Yes, there is life after disability.
During the last 5 years I have found a new way of serving God and helping people. I have published 5 books, two magazine articles, and 20 columns for the Palladium Item. Yes, there is life after disability.
Now, you may not be a writer. You may be more disabled than I am. You may not be able to use your arms, legs, eyes, or ears. But many of my friends are more disabled than I am, and they all can tell you that there is life after disability. Their Christmas letters testify to the fact that they are able to enjoy family life, serve God, have accomplishments, and take vacations,
You may not believe what bad things have befallen you over
the last 10 years. But rising above your circumstances and finding new life
begins with waking up: you are not dead yet! So, put your best foot forward and
look for the good that will come to you in 2004.
Dr. Greene is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a resident of Richmond, IN. He is also the author of Feeling Better: The Wisdom of the Doc, You Can Feel Better: How to cope with chronic pain and physical disabilities, and co-author of Walking Free: the Nellie Zimmerman Story. For further information about his books, please visit www.densmorereid.com To return to the column list, Click Here |
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