[Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress

[Mike Freeman]

I've been staying out of this thread, believing that it is basically
counterproductive. However, the mistake I surmise Peter is making is to
single out blindness as a particular egregious stress-provoker. It is not.

Of course, some folks may find it so; the point is that some of us do not
find it so, especially if we've had good blindness training and have
opportunities to put our skills and attitudes to work.

We might all find it profitable to reread Dr. jernigan's speech: "Blindness:
Handicap or Characteristic".

Cheers!

Mike Freeman


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chris
Nusbaum
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 3:04 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress

Julie,

Very well said! Thank you for these wonderful thoughts!

Chris



 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com
To: Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sun, 03 Mar 2013 08:26:34 -0600
Subject: [Blindtlk] 10 natural ways to relieve stress

Peter,

I never said I was speaking for all blind people everywhere.  I 
said
that stress, unhappiness and unemployment were not *my* current
experience.  I understand that lots of blind people don't have 
jobs and
are generally unhappy with their life situation.  And I have no 
problem
with the words happy or unhappy.

I have been there too.  I had no job for a long time.  I've been
homeless, if only for a few days.  I've eaten my fair share of 
Ramen
noodles.   I've wondered how I was going to scrape together 
enough money
to pay the bills, month after month after month.  However I 
always kept
the mindset that the situation at hand was temporary.  You can be 
in an
awful situation and still have hope.  Sometimes that's all there 
is.

I'm not quite as old as you think.  I'll be 40 this year.  I 
don't know
that families were all that much different when I was a kid.  I 
grew up
in a mostly African American, poor area though.  BTW I am white.  
I
guess maybe growing up being the different kid allowed me to get 
real
comfortable with being different and being okay with that.  Who 
knows?

Now, I work with young people with their first contact with the 
criminal
justice system.  I see all sorts of different family groupings.  
Some of
them work and are healthy and some of them are not a good place 
for
kids.  I don't see a strong correlation between a man and woman 
who have
been married for a long time with only their own kids in the home 
and
stability.  I have a single Dad raising five kids that I think 
should
get parent of the year.  I have another youth who lives with her 
Aunt
and Uncle and it is one of the most positive respectful families.  
Some
of the traditional families are good too.  I'm just saying that 
family
comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and I think it always has.

Perhaps what I am saying is that yes, bad stuff happens in the 
world.
We all know that and can agree that blind people get more than 
our fair
share of hardships.   I feel like I have a choice though.  I can 
choose
to feel stressed and hopeless because the odds are that I won't 
have a
job or I can choose to put all my effort in to finding a job or 
starting
my own business.  No, it isn't easy and it won't happen 
overnight, but
if I believe that it can happen for me, I have just dramatically
increased the odds that it will.  "Whether you believe you can or 
you
can't, either way you're right."A quote from the founder of the 
Ford
motor company.

Blindness can be hard, very hard at times.  I choose to look at 
it as an
opportunity though.  I feel like I have made many of the life 
choices I
have because of my blindness, not despite it.  I have a strong 
need to
challenge myself to learn new things and have new experiences.
Blindness has made that easy.

This summer I am going survival camping.  I am going to learn 
stuff like
how to make a fire with no matches, how to make rope, how to find
drinking water and  how to make a shelter in the woods.   I am so
excited for this opportunity!  It will be a challenge and I'll 
have to
figure out many adaptations because of my blindness.   It's like 
a
puzzle for me.  I love to figure out how I can accomplish the 
task.
Occasionally I come across something that I can't do, but more 
often I
surprise myself.  It also helps a lot to have wonderful email 
lists and
other blind people willing to talk to me about similar things 
they have
done.  I can build on what has already been discovered without
reinventing the wheel.  *smile*

What are your goals? Your dreams?  If you knew you couldn't fail 
what
would you do?  Let us help you figure out how to get there.

Julie

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