In a message dated 8/8/2007 5:17:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
When I'm "down" I dig up all those activities I'd seen myself doing in my retirement at 53 y.o.. Isn't that the truth! When I'm down, I think of how busy I used to be, owning two hair salons, teaching advanced hair color techniques, attending college for the first time at 50 yrs. old. Today I struggle with trying to decide who and what I am. I feel like I am of no use to anyone. I use none of my skills and am basically bed and wheelchair dependent. It's wrong for us, society, to define ourselves by our job descriptions. We are, who we are, inside. We need to define ourselves by what is in our hearts; how much we love others and by how much others love us, and by how much we contribute to society. That's why it is so difficult for us to recover from depression. We have to completely start from "scratch" and work on creating new lives, using whatever abilities we have left. Most of us, if not all of us, still have our brains and thats pretty important. Like Frank says, "It could be a lot worse." All I have to do is think of someone who has Lou Gerihg's disease, where the mind is fully intact, but the body is frozen and the person is imprisoned inside. Blah, blah, blah...I've said too much, as usual. Welcome Jim and Carol from Imalay City. I am from Genesee, northeast of Flint. I don't get out much, but we did recently purchase a van with lift and I have a comfortable new w/c so maybe we could meet in Saginaw for a bite to eat. God Bless and Love You, Jude Hoops "Our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great Glory that will last forever" 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
