Read on Twitter
I’ve recently come through a pretty hairy health scare. Fortunately for me it all checked out ok, but for a few weeks it was pretty frightening. I learned a few things that feel worth passing along, whether for you or those around you. A short thread ...
2/ Sometimes talking to a stranger is easier than talking to someone you love. Because you don’t have to carry a stranger’s worry along with your own.
3/ Anyone who would deny a person healthcare based on a pre-existing condition can go fu*k themselves.
4/ As kind as you think it is, saying “Everything’s going to be fine“ isn’t helpful. It diminishes the person’s feeling of helplessness. “Fine” isn’t even a possibility in that moment. Better to say nothing; or acknowledge the person’s fear.
5/ Humor, done the right way, is a great elixir and distraction. Laughing helps, a lot.
6/ Conventional wisdom says old dogs can’t learn new tricks. Untrue. When you’re staring mortality in the eye, a lot of things come sharply into focus. Things you never believed; things you thought you believed but actually don’t; new priorities; a new bucket list. Never too old.
7/ Kind of insane I randomly wrote this just weeks prior to my scare. Maybe I'm a psychic? And how true the part is about the burden we put on the suffering. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/iansohn_remove-the-ive-read-a-few-things-about-activity-6714859281780400128-viQ8
8/ If you’re going through it, write everything down. Every conversation, every interaction, every name, date, detail. Your brain will mush it all up when left to its own devices. It’s good to have, practically. But also good, emotionally.
9/ The anxiety will be crushing. Breathing and running and laughing and a glass of wine, and even work will help some. But you’ll have times where the only thing to do is sink into the fear. It passes, just know that.
10/ Fortunately I don’t have self-destructive genes, but it’s easy to see how someone could slip into that behavior. “Fu*k it, I’m probably dead anyway. Might as well do [bad thing].” I'm sure there are plenty of movies based on this.
11/ You have an overwhelming sense of urgency with everything. And, rather unfairly, you expect everyone to have the same urgency. Really have to fight that unfair expectation.
12/ Your dog knows. Without a doubt. This boy did not leave my side for weeks. Even with my kids around, he chose to sleep with me versus one of them. That never happens.
13/ People will surprise you, good and bad. Be prepared for equal parts disappointment and unexpected warmth. You will surprise yourself, too.
