Hey All,
There is a post over in the “General Discussion” section that I would recommend reading - especially the comments (except for the ones by some guy who calls himself TJ?).
It talks about personality changes and other changes that we (the patients) have undergone. Merl spelled it out very clearly:
The problem wasn’t them, the problem was my acceptance of my reality.
My acceptance of reality. My counselor (my Randy) and I have spent a lot of time trying to get to the point of acceptance. It’s hard. And it’s not a “one and done” thing. Some days you might accept it better than others. Actually some days you will accept it better than other.
We have often used the analogy of a mountain hike (not full blown mountain climbing, but a pretty solid but tough work out.)
You’re hiking to the top of the mountain and things are moving along. And then the “sometimes” become now. And sometimes you walk on the path and sometimes you stumble and get your knee scraped up and your pride hurt. And sometimes you slide off the path and take a hard roll down a pretty steep hill and end up playing a pinball game with your head against the trees on the way down.
But you get up, brush off the dirt, clean off the scrapes and cuts and you start moving. It’s at a different pace than before, it’s a limp rather than an energetic jaunt.
But you keep moving forward.
Because that’s who we are. The very fact that you are signed up in this group means you aren’t a quitter. You’re either asking for help yourself, asking for help for a loved one, or you’ve made it to the top of the mountain and are saying, "Hey guys, come on up - the view is amazing!
I’m not the same. You probably aren’t either. But we keep going and rely on others to help when we are faced with obstacles we can’t face alone.
“The problem wasn’t them, the problem was my acceptance of my reality.” @ModSupport - thanks, Merl.
*tips hat across the pond
TJ