Just Seeing What Life Brings (by Steve Goodier)
You’ve heard it said that what you
see is what you get. But what I’ve discovered is that it’s not what you see,
but what you think you see, that determines what you get.
In the “Journal of the American Medical
Association,” Dr. Paul Ruskin demonstrated how our perception of reality (not
actually what is going on, but how we perceive it) determines how we feel about
it. While teaching a class on the psychological aspects of aging, he read the
following case to his students:
The patient neither speaks nor comprehends the
spoken word. Sometimes she babbles incoherently for hours on end. She is
disoriented about person, place, and time. She does, however, respond to her
name. I have worked with her for the past six months, but she still shows
complete disregard for her physical appearance and makes no effort to assist
her own care. She must be fed, bathed, and clothed by others. Because she has
no teeth, her food must be pureed. Her shirt is usually soiled from almost
incessant drooling. She does not walk. Her sleep pattern is erratic. Often she
wakes in the middle of the night, and her screaming awakens others. Most of the
time she is friendly and happy, but several times a day she gets quite agitated
without apparent cause. Then she wails until someone comes to comfort her.
After presenting the case, Dr. Ruskin asked his
students how they would like caring for this person. Most of them said they
would not like it at all. He then said that he believed he would especially
enjoy it and thought that they might, also. He passed a picture of the patient
around for his puzzled students to see. It was his six-month-old daughter.
Most of the students thought that what they saw, in
Ruskin’s description, was the task of caring for a difficult elderly woman with
severe dementia and loss of bodily control with little or no self awareness.
But when shown the picture, they realized that what they thought they saw and
what they now clearly saw were quite different realities.
I have numerous tasks ahead today. How will I see
them? Am I already seeing something I think I’ll dread without giving it a
chance? Am I seeing something as negative when it could turn out to be
rewarding or even a great opportunity for some growth? And what if I chose not
to expect the worst and just see what life brings me?
I feel better about my day already.
-- Steve Goodier
http://www.LifeSupportSystem.com
