Suffering is suffering
I forget what led me to this video. But I’m impressed by the matter-of-fact way this young woman discusses her situation (she’s a C-5 level quadriplegic as a result of an auto accident), without excessive drama but actually saying some pretty deep and even wise things.
The first segment is from 1:44 to about 2:59:
The second segment is from 5:00 to about 5:45:
Its imposible, at least for me, to understand what her life is like and how she copes with her circumstances. She is a very brave person.
Somehow, it comes out, that disabled people are supposed to be brave and transcendent.The healthy person nearly demands this of the injured. It’s one of the great mysteries of life, is that supposition.
Disabled people can be a great bother . . . reminding us of the vulnerability of the human frame. And when we find that injury is accompanied by bitterness instead of a Ghandi-like serenity, well, we don’t want to be uncharitable, but after all, they could at least get over it.
The other reaction is just the opposite: too much sympathy and a desire to fix things. When she gives a sandwich to the dumpster diver, there’s just so much there it’s hard to start!
Great video for living.
Humans don’t know how to interact with humans, period. Unless they have a tyrant or leader telling them what to do… they really have no idea what’s going on.
And the amount of effort it takes to learn this for a single individual, by themselves, often times is more sacrifice and work than most are willing to get for the perceived benefit.