Life is pretty easy

[Daniel]

I mentioned on another thread that I started working at a college for mentally handicapped young people who are around 20 years old. Well today the first students arrived and whilst some of them seem to have just some fairly mild mental handicaps there was one boy called Logan who can't talk at all and can only communicate by making noises and I thought how frustrating it must be for someone like that who will never really be able to communicate properly with people, but who seemed relatively aware of his surroundings.

Just made me think to myself what the hell are people bitching about? Kind of puts your life into perspective when you see someone who will never be able to say hello or even just be able to talk to family in public without being looked at.

I will have to take some pictures of the grounds of the place that I work on, it's definitely the most beautiful place I've ever worked at.

Here is one of the two very tame goats they have there, I know obviously having a mental handicap can't be easy, but they really seem to like being around animals and being away from the busy outside world.
http://oi54.tinypic.com/14e2wyb.jpg

[Jag_Warrior]

Absolutely, Daniel. :up: That sort of thing will make you take stock of yourself pretty quickly. A few years ago, a facility that I worked with had a local agency that did some work for them, and they employed people with special needs. Some had physical handicaps, others mental or emotional. I'm not an overly emotional person. But I'd go in there to see about something and there'd be somebody making a 110% effort to do something that came as second nature to me. And they'd just keep trying! Considering how most of us probably don't give more than 50% on an average day, being in the company of these people soon became like an honor for me. I miss getting to spend time with them now.

You have a great opportunity there, Daniel. My hat is off to you. My girlfriend is a school administrator for special needs kids. She has two Masters degrees. And when I first met her, I wondered why she wouldn't go out and find a job that paid more money. But as I've gotten to know her and the type of person she is, what she does you couldn't really put a price on. She gets more from her job than just a paycheck... which is about all I get from what I do.

[Alexamateo]

I agree too, Daniel :up:

It's always important to have a little perspective and remember how blessed we really are. My great-uncle had the best attitude towards life because he learned perspective early. He was a top turret gunner on a B-17 that bombed the Ploiesti Oil fields in Romania on June 6, 1944. They caught flak and were crippled but still flying and trying to make it back to Italy when they had to ditch in the Adriatic Sea. The plane sank immediately, and the pilot and co-pilot never made it out of the plane. Of the eight guys that made it to the surface, 5 of them drowned. They were rescued by a sea plane, but that pilot almost abandoned them because of the swells. He didn't think he would be able to take back off again, but he changed his mind and came back so my great-uncle and two others were rescued. He was 20 years old.

While some might be bitter or scarred after something like that he chose to be grateful, and he would tell you life was all good after that and that he got 63 bonus years.

[airshifter]

Great thread Daniel.

Sometimes all it takes is a little perspective tossed in your face to change your view on your place in life, and at times we need that to put life into perspective.

While traveling in my military days we often went to places where people had very little or anything as compared to our standard of living. It made me realize that I will always see my glass as half full, even if I want for even more. It also made me realize just how easy it is to take actions that might give someone with much less some hope in their life, or allow them a luxury that we all take for granted.

I often see people on forums moaning about wanting a better job, wishing for a newer car, bigger house, blah, blah ad nauseum. If they are on a computer in their home and have a car the reality is that they already enjoy a standard of living that many in the world have little hope of ever reaching.


I recently had an experience similar to that of Daniel. Due to changes in eligibility my wife and myself both now have some VA (Veterans Administration) health benefits available to us. After shooting a lot of xrays they determined that I should get some rehabilitation therapy to ease the discomfort/pain in my back.

The day I was getting my xrays I spent about 20 mintues talking to an elderly woman who was waiting for her husband. He had served during the Korean War in a unit that took a great many casualties, and sufferered from severe PTSD for decades following that experience until greater resources on counseling became available to him. After over 50 years of living in complete fear and paranoia, to the degree of sleeping with weapons under his pillow, he was returning to his normal life. I had to admire both him for dealing with that, and her for staying by her husbands side for all those years.

The day I went to my first therapy was just as humbling. I was simply getting some specific instruction on what activities to be watchful of, and some exercises/stretches, etc that would ease my back discomfort. Across the room was a man with apparently diminished mental capacity being coached and assisted on how to learn to walk with his new prosthetic leg.

Going through that hospital you see everything from people with minor issues getting medicine to people with severe disabilities fighting for their life. It is not uncommon to see a line part to make way for someone with paralysis of several limbs or those missing said limbs. Yet in my experience in the trips I have made to that hospital, all those people seem to be able to keep the attitude that their glass remains half full.

It helped me realize that on even my worst days, I will now see my glass as 3/4 full, and thankful for every bit of it.

[Eki]

While traveling in my military days we often went to places where people had very little or anything as compared to our standard of living.
Military is surely an educational experience. That's why I'm all for compulsory military service. I remember when I spent three weeks in Lapland in a tent and realized that people don't really need that much to survive. Just some food, water, clothes, fire and a roof over your head. It was also the first time when I had some taste of what hunger is. One day we got breakfast at 6AM and then didn't get any food until 10PM. They said the food truck had stuck in a swamp, but I suspect they did it on purpose.

[Garry Walker]

Just made me think to myself what the hell are people bitching about? Kind of puts your life into perspective when you see someone who will never be able to say hello or even just be able to talk to family in public without being looked at.

Makes you think that, but the answer is really easy. We are simply used to a different kind of life. If all you experience in life are minor work or relationship problems, how can you not bitch about them when they really are the biggest issues you have?



Here is one of the two very tame goats they have there, I know obviously having a mental handicap can't be easy, but they really seem to like being around animals and being away from the busy outside world.
http://oi54.tinypic.com/14e2wyb.jpg
Animals are so vital to all children and can teach so much to children, both handicapped and healthy.

[Daniel]

Makes you think that, but the answer is really easy. We are simply used to a different kind of life. If all you experience in life are minor work or relationship problems, how can you not bitch about them when they really are the biggest issues you have?


Animals are so vital to all children and can teach so much to children, both handicapped and healthy.

Of course Garry, I will always want the best in my life, but sometimes a lot of the things you see people complaining about is rather trivial crap.

[driveace]

I have taught 3 people to drive who were deaf and dumb,and they knew when to change gear by vibrations through their feet,but got frustrated that they could not express them selves when they wanted to as others would have.But when working as a Driving Examiner in the 70s,we had a lady turned up for a test who,s arms finished at her elbows,she signed her name and wrote with a pen between her toes,opened and closed her handbag with her toes,and had a rudder pedal to steer the car with,truly incredible people