Communicating Illness
We can’t state this clearly enough; you can’t keep problems to yourself any
more.
Even when we keep our suffering a firm secret,
we tend to resent others for failing to read our minds. This is no time for
that. This is a time for facts on the table.
This might not seem, at first, to be an area
that requires strategic thinking - but if this area of your life is mismanaged
it can be exhausting, and failing to articulate difficulties will inevitably
lead to complications - Innocent requests for help moving sofas!
One solution is to think of a stock
explanation, that is easy to repeat, that hits on the vital points of your
condition - your cans and cant’s - but
cutting past the morbid, particularly worrying details that may bring a tear to
people’s eyes or a lump to your own throat.
It can be rounded with positives - include how
you’ve already begun dealing with the issue. (Also this might help shut-down
well-meaning conversations about what people think you should be doing for your health, which could become tedious.)
For example:
‘I’ve been having some minor health problems so my doctor
advised me to take things easy - He’s given me some exercises to get on with,
but basically told me not to do anything too strenuous. It’s given me a chance
to get some reading done, so it’s not all bad.’
Of course, some words there are already emotive
to say aloud, no matter how much detail you strip from them. ‘Health problems’. And of course, people
will worry. But it is a conversation
that needs having.
If you’re having difficulty in bringing
yourself to having the talk, the solution is simple - imagine it were the other
way around.
How would you feel if those you loved kept a secret from
you that could result in you neglecting them?
Stress
Retirement has been shown to result in a
decrease in stress-induced headaches - And during the transition phase headache
prevalence can drop 46%. [11]
Remember: stress can seep into empty areas of
your life. Of course, at first you deserve a break - a time with nothing at all
on your schedule, if the idea suits you, but that can’t become the new norm.
To keep stress at bay you have to:
Stay Engaged
Stay Active
Stay Connected
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This is the continuation of a weekly serialization of this new ebook on active retirement, by Wamala and Cooper, which book is available through amazon.com for $0.99:
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