Working with Physical and Other Challenges

In an ideal world, we'd all wake up on time each morning, full of vim and vigor, spring out of bed and get on with the day. After our Morning Offering, or some other appropriate "wake-up" prayer, some of us attend to our spiritual lives first thing with pious practices: reading Scripture, good spiritual works, studying the teachings of our Catholic Religion, daily rosary, Holy Mass, etc. If we're so inclined, we might also tackle our exercise routines before the work day begins. Through it all, we're feeling great, flying above the clouds, seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, grateful for it all to our loving and merciful God.

But days don't always start that way. 

For some of us, a disabling injury or illness hangs heavy over our days and nights. In some cases, such conditions prevent any kind of work, physical or otherwise. When our son had his massive stroke, had he not died, he might have emerged in a condition that would have prevented him from earning a living - perhaps for the rest of his life. Maybe you've known folks in this situation. I won't comment further on this because I really don't know what it's like to be in such a state, though I've known people who were and are.

Some people can work, but do so with extraordinary physical challenges. I've known a number of folks who suffer from progressive and increasingly debilitating diseases, limbs lost in war or accidents (my grandfather being one such), impeded senses (blindness, or highly compromised sight, severe speech impediments.) And let's not forget those who suffer from severe psychological/emotional conditions that make it hard to hold a job, try as they might. (I knew one such fellow. He worked for a number of years. But his disease - and it was a disease - got the better of him. He spent roughly the last third of his life out of work.)

And yet, with these challenges, many of these folks forge ahead, earn a living, raise a family - in short do all that someone without such challenges can do. You can only stand back and admire such people, even as you might thank God that you don't have to deal with such challenges. (Frankly, I don't think I could.)

While most of us may not have such extreme challenges, we likely have all - to one degree or another - had lesser, but serious physical or emotional challenges.

And let's set the record straight here regarding emotional states that can be debilitating. While most people get the difficulty of working with a harsh physical injury or disability, sometimes people discount emotional difficulties. In the bi-polar case mentioned above, the individual was, in fact, a bit of a schemer who looked to cut corners, take advantage of government programs that provided welfare and disability benefits, initiated a couple of liability law suits, one of which was really pushing the envelope. And yet, his condition was real. He was diagnosed by competent doctors, took medication that had to be constantly maintained, and - as noted - ultimately not only couldn't perform his government job, but spent the better part of his last years in bed, depressed and unable to take care of himself. Even a schemer didn't deserve this.

The point is that, while some people do exaggerate normal difficulties, there really are people who have identifiable psychological and/or physical impairments that make the normal activities of every day life especially difficult. So don't judge others just because you don't really understand why exactly they're having such trouble. And unless you have some darn good reasons to think they're "faking it," cut them a break and, when possible, lend a helping hand.

Physical challenges, on the other hand, might be a bit more straight-forward and maybe more common. Such has been my experience. You may have had one or more of these. I've had some myself. In my own case, while none caused me to miss a day's work, getting through the work day could be - at times - extraordinarily difficult.

Not to bore you with a personal tale of woe, but this might serve as a simple "clean" example working with a physical challenge. I injured my left knee a bunch of years ago. Maybe I should have seen a doctor, but my experience with others I know was that surgery would likely have been recommended. And since I could walk, I really didn't want to subject myself to knee surgery. So I wore an Ace bandage I found in my local pharmacy. It kept me going.

That being said, walking was not great, but bearable. Walking up and down stairs, on the other hand, caused extreme pain. And given that I had to commute by subway at the time, I had to take stairs every day. This went on for months. Bad enough. But then came the famous Northeast power blackout of 2003. My office was on the 33rd floor of an office building. Naturally, the elevators didn't work. Now, going up stairs was painful enough. But going down - sheesh! And, remember, we're talking 33 floors. Then, once I hit the ground, of course the subways were out too. The walk uptown to where I could catch a bus that would get me near home was about four miles. Once I got to the bus stop, the wait had me standing for a good hour and a half. I remember the pain and exhaustion as if it were yesterday.

But I didn't miss a step at work, either that day or the next. With the power restored, I was back to the office the next morning. 

What about you? Whether sickness or injury, unless its bad enough to keep you at home, you've likely trudged into work at times and faced the challenge of performing your duties in spite of your condition. 

More next time, including what I've found to be the best ways to prepare and, when necessary, deal with working with physical and other challenges...