Depressed due to illness? Shine like a comet!

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In my previous post, I mentioned a doctor who was misdiagnosed to have leukemia.

A reader might wonder what is so inspiring about this tragic story. There is.

I have seen a comet only twice in my life. Halley’s comet orbits sun every 76 years. It was last seen in 1986. I had seen it with my bare eyes. The other one was the comet Hale-Bopp.

There are moments in life when one doesn’t know what lies ahead. Everyone no matter how fortunate or otherwise he or she is faces such days.

Prior to 1986, the Halley’s comet was seen in 1910. As everyone knows, there are myths about these poor celestial objects.

The world would end!
The life on this planet would cease!

These were some of the myths associated with the Halley’s comet. A report in a Hindi Magazine in 1986 told me that several people gathered together in a mosque in Tehran and committed a mass suicide in 1910! In a similar stand, several people gathered in the basement of a building in Vienna to face a common predicament.

The myths and panic reappeared in 1997, when the comet Hale-Bopp was seen. There were talks of an alien aircraft closely following the comet. A religious cult “Heaven's Gate cult” encouraged people to commit suicide as it would ensure a good “after life”.

So in a way, I like most of us survived one or two major comets!

I wish the doctor I mentioned in my post had opted for a timely second opinion and bounced back to life. However he chose to be eclipsed slowly.

The message: Don’t let any thing eclipse you, try to shine like a comet.

Lisa Ray diagnosed with multiple myeloma is shining. She did so at the Toronto film festival recently.

Best

Happy Alzheimer's day!

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The “Why me” question:

As a medical professional, I come across people who have actually gone through a misery and coped successfully. There are others who would curse the almighty and go into depression. I hope, there is a coping mechanism which inherent, and another that can be acquired through self help, grit and determination.

The "Why me" question:

Have you ever been through an agonizing medical illness? Or, seen some one very close to you going through one? Wouldn’t you like to shake the whole world and ask the almighty, “why you”?

The question is simple, so is probably the answer: You because, it could have been any one. Purely random game, life is. Sometimes we envy people, some time others envy us! So, why complain?

Take inspiration from an insect you accidentally injure while taking a stroll in a lawn or a puppy getting hit by a speeding vehicle. The insect would just begin to move immediately. No grudges. Life is cruel. But so it is to everyone regardless of the bank balance! After being hit by a vehicle, and ridden to bed for months many of us would have suicidal thoughts: Jumping through the hospital window is an option.

Go back and have a look at the insect.
Taking that final exit is not possible for the Poor creature. Throw it outside yourself. It survives for it doesn’t have enough body mass for a fatal impact. Think of the puppy, it does cry for a brief moment. But puppy knows life has to go on even with a limp. With no mother to hold it, the puppy soon disappears from sight.

Jumping from the window is an option for only higher and evolved animals like us. But “he” doesn’t endorse it.

So what is the solution?

Ignorance can be a bliss. But not so for long. As “why me” gets blurred, you would have rejuvenated interests in your illness. What is the best remedy? Can anyone else help? What if it doesn’t subside? How have others coped with illness? How can I cope with the situation myself?

This would be the second phase of your ascent. A quest for knowledge.

In a subsequent phase you might even extend a helping hand to some other sufferer.

This is to be continued.....when I come back with more to help you help yourself.
Until then,
Goodbye!