Okay, well I did not win the lottery and I was already married, but you know how it is when you are a smoker and everyone tells you that smoking is what causes every single one of your problems? If you smoke, you know what I am talking about and if you don't, never mind, just continue feeling morally superior.
I still get sick every few months, which is very inconvenient. As I lay there, feeling too weak to do anything, even turn over, it occurred to me that there are many chronic illnesses where people experience fatigure, shortness of breath and limited mobility. On top of everything else, I hurt too much to put in my contacts so I was not able to see even as far as the tips of my fingers. If you had asked me, I would have told you that I had ten fingers, but only by memory, not by sight.
True to the statements by the National Federation of the Blind, being partially-sighted was the least of my difficulties. Maybe it would be more trouble for someone who suddenly could not see, but since I don't remember a time when I had good vision, and the first eight years of my life I did not have glasses, it is simply an inconvenience for me. When I did get up, I had to sit within three inches of the computer screen if I was going to do any work, but that is not a big deal. I know where everything is in my house, so that wasn't a problem either. Perhaps that is why I have never been as impressed as other people by my friend who is completely blind. When I was trying to pick out my niece at the train station and I could not see any of the faces, it was simply an annoyance and nothing more, because I am used to not being able to see, so I am not so impressed by Tina having a job, a social life and athletic accomplishments. That seems doable and not so hard to me.
What amazed and impressed me was the thought that many people with disabilities wake up every day with little muscular strength, fatigue and in some pain. They get up and they go to work. This is why I finally quit smoking years ago. It was not the thought of dying that frightened me. It was the thought that I would be so sick I would be unable to work.
Yet, after a couple of days, sick or not, I got up and worked. I only could work for a couple of hours, then I would go back and rest. Then I would work again. On this schedule, I worked eight hours or so each day. I often work twelve or more hours a day, which allows me to get done a lot of things not just for the most immediate deadline, but for the future, to work on new business, on improving our existing web pages as well as writing new ones, reading books and articles searching for better designs. At this pace, I could not do it any more. I realized that if I were to become chronically ill, I could not have the life that I do, no matter how much initiative, intelligence and motivation I might have. Simply getting my regular day's work done was the most I could do, and that was with the great advantages of not having to commute, having someone to watch my daughter, and even a husband who moved my car for me, which was parked illegally.
Now that I am feeling a little better, still rotten, but better, I think I have an improved notion of the purpose and service of our training at Spirit Lake Consulting. For those individuals with disabilities, our training and resources on the Internet can eliminate the commute, the need to find transportation to the library, to find someone to watch your child while you leave the house. By offering forums and web pages instead of lectures and class discussion, it is possible for people to take our classes as time and energy allows, then rest, take care of medical or self-care needs, and come back on their own schedule.
Finding the spouse to park your car - well, you're still on you're own for that one.
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