Martin Luther King (check out this website) was my hero when I was a teenager in the 1960’s. He convinced me that an individual can make the world a better place. Sound sappy?
I hope not — but I have to tell you that every moment that I spend coaching someone who is determined to stay successfully (not just minimally) employed makes me realize how critical it is to hope and believe.
It’s as a member of a minority – one that is race and religion blind – that I’m thinking of Dr. King today. Did you know that 90m. people in the U.S. live with a chronic illness? And too many are socially and economically disenfranchised — Why?<p/>
Because of pervasive and wrong headed ideas about our capabilities, deep rooted concern about motivation (or lack of it), and a real failure on any part of our economic system to change this. Sound familiar? All minorities could say the same.
Many of the people that I coach are in career transition because chronic illness has made it impossible for them to do the jobs they could once do well.A mother emailed me today asking if I can help her son who is about to graduate high school. She lives in Canada and is looking for resources that will help him figure out how he can work and support himself given the autoimmune diseases he lives with. Does anyone know of any resources for career resources for people with chronic illness in Canada?
We, the chronically ill, need to know that being successful in work is not a pipe dream — even if the economic system isn’t set up to support this. That’s not heroic – we’re just trying to keep getting a piece of the pie.
Speaking of heroes, Joan Friedlander , my co-author and fellow blogger on, KeepWorking Girlfriend!, wrote about Richard Cohen’s new book, Strong at the Broken Places. He profiles 5 “heroes” who live with life threatening chronic illness. I haven’t read it yet (although I read Blindsided, also by Cohen). Have you read it? Let us know (comment)
Share your thoughts. Does living with chronic illness take heroism? Who is a hero for you?
Rosalind
Cynthia Armistead says
I don’t think that living with chronic illness requires heroism. After all, what other choices do we have? Death? Not much of a choice.
How we choose to live, though, can be heroic. Those who push as far as they can and refuse to let others decide what they can or cannot do are great role models.
I have a friend, Jen, who is one of my heroes. She is an incredible mother to her bio-son and her adopted daughter, who was originally with her as a foster placement. She’s a great wife. She’s an outstanding employee. She’s one of the most loving people I’ve ever know, and she reaches out to everyone who comes in contact with her in any way. She takes care of her extended family and a huge circle of friends and “found family.” She’s won at least one national award as a foster parent. I don’t now how many children have been placed with her over the years, but I know that every single one left her home happier and healthier than when they arrived. Every one of them experienced unconditional love.
In just the last few years this superwoman has survived breast cancer (that keeps coming back), severe rheumatoid arthritis, and several other serious conditions, and now it seems that she has lupus (still not sure yet). Every day she keeps getting up, taking care of her family, and making a long commute to work. She has to wrestle her powered wheelchair out of the van when she gets there, and back into the van when she leaves, but she doesn’t complain. Every weekend she’s busy, busy, busy, right up until she collapses, usually with doing things for other people!
(Totally unrelated – the Keep Working Girlfriend site isn’t working. It seems to be due to a problem with the Sem Analytics plug-in, so if you delete that plugin on your server, all should be well.)
Yianni Garcia says
90 million people in the U.S. live with chronic pain?! Wow. I knew the number was high but that is mind blowing. This post does a great job of linking MLK’s values with an often neglected minority.
Thanks for responding to my email about Post Polio Syndrome awareness and chronic pain. I look forward to sharing information with you. See the link above for more info on PPS and I’ll keep you posted on upcoming treatments and new technologies for chronic pain.
Rosalind Joffe says
Wendy
That’s such a great story about your friend,Jen. I believe that she does so well with all this because she does focus on others as much. It’s a great antidote to physical hardship. FYI – the Keep Working Girlfriend site should be ok now. It was an analytics issue – how did you know, anyway? Rosalind
Rosalind Joffe says
Yiani
I’m glad you like the link – It’s something I think about a lot. I believe that chronic illness is very much a diversity issue, particularly in the workplace where differences aren’t well tolerated.
I know someone with PPS and it is under reported from what I can tell. I put this in the resource section on this blog and the KeepWOrkingGirlfriend blog. I’d love it if you wanted to write a guest post on this – particularly as to how it relates to working. Do you have PPS and if so, does it make working more difficult? How?
Rosalind