Somebody asked me
Sep. 26th, 2008 09:32 am“What are you most afraid of?”
I think I’m most afraid of bad things happening to those I love. I’m not particularly afraid of bad things happening to me – if they’re bad enough to kill me, I’ll be dead, and if I’m not dead then I’ll work out a way to deal with them. I remember going through a period in my pre-teens of thinking “What if I go blind?”, “What if I can’t walk?” “What if I was completely paralysed and couldn’t move a finger?” (this was a particularly common scenario in my imaginings). And then I realised that there were blind people, people who couldn’t walk, or talk, or hear, and that they seemed to be getting on with life ok. (At that time no one had written a book by blinking his eye, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had). So I think, and hopefully I will never have to be tested on that.
But bad things happening to others, and my being powerless to help, that scares me.
Oh, and asparagus.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-26 09:41 am (UTC)Funny, I came to a similar conclusion as you very early on...but with the help of seeing my dad, the vast majority of people at the rehab centre he worked at and a variety of his friends get by quite happily with a variety of disabilities.
I was taught to dive by a (Paralympic gold medal winning) paraplegic. I was saved from having my fingers crushed only because a wheelchair is quicker than someone on foot when it matters. My dad hunted, drove and navigated in rallyes, went horseriding, drove a quad instead of a motorbike, was pretty good in a number of sports. And was a bit of a ladies' man, crippled legs or no.
So yeah, life goes on if you will it to go on.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-26 08:49 pm (UTC)