I have many decades of experience observing responses to illness, because I’ve being dealing with a heart condition since birth. The responses to illness I’ve seen include:
- pity,
- sympathy,
- empathy,
- fear,
- courage,
- ignorance,
- ingenuity,
- misunderstanding,
- understanding,
- denial,
- acceptance,
- coldness,
- warmth,
- despair,
- hope,
- disrespect,
- respect,
- anxiety,
- calm,
- avoidance,
- acceptance,
- confusion,
- clarity,
- cruelty,
- caring,
- neglect,
- kindness,
- resentment,
- inspiration,
- isolation,
- connection,
- distancing,
- embracing,
- hate, and
- love.
What responses to illness have you observed, in others and in yourself?
Now that our cat, Oscar, is ill with cancer, I’m noticing my responses to him, which are based on the golden rule:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
I am treating Oscar when he is ill as I always wish to be treated when I am ill: with respect, caring, compassion, understanding, love, and connection.
Last night, my responses to Oscar included dancing with him to Steppin’ Out.” by Joe Jackson. Would you like to respond to this by dancing with us?
Personally, I think dancing is a great response to everything.
Do you see responses to illness in my other photos from yesterday?
My response to that last photo is this: In this current time of illness, many people would go more places if more places had drive-thrus.
My final response in this blog post is gratitude for what I’ve got, including Oscar, my health, and YOU!
