In My World

As I finish putting away the week's groceries, I contemplate other's lives. Aside from my two daughters,  I consider what may be other's lives.  How they have conducted their lives over the past two years.  This is a thought not unusual for me to have.

Yet, it occurs more often than not. Especially  now, as the population is probably feeling ever more irked. Regarding perhaps. their illusion of any lack of their freedom. But isn't that what life is about?

The illusion of who we are. What we are about. Where we stand on the planet. Who we love. And who loves us. Our significance. Couldn't we imagine if this were all just an illusion? Sounds like a "Twighlight Zone" episode, perhaps.

My aim here, are the thoughts of reckoning. I'll explain why I'm claiming such a thing.
For about twenty-eight years of a career in dealing with injured athletes,  pain patients, chronically ill and the terminally ill. I found that there were many people who lied to me and to themselves.  Mostly it had been to their detriment. But their choices were and are none of my business. Unless I felt they put themselves and or others in a dangerous set of circumstances.

Examples would be:
1. Person not being honest about the medications they were on.
2. Person going to other doctors over the state border to get prescription drugs that they've already received from another doctor. Narcotics primarily. Not letting one doctor know that they had done so.
3. Not tending to their diet. Lieing about it.
4. Not doing their Physical Therapy(PT) properly, making excuses why they either couldn't go to PT, went to less than the recommended sessions.Or refused to do the PT home exercises.

Those are just some of the areas that strained relationships for me as practitioner of health. I'm certain I am not the only one involved in the healthcare industry that these aforementioned areas affect negatively.

Negatively, I mean about people. Cumulatively, the lessons I learned was that I realized that just because I don't lie, doesn't mean no one else does.

People usually lie to themselves before they lie to someone else. They convince themselves that they can bypass things that they know they shouldn't. They reason with themselves, 'Who's going to know?'

The answer to that is me. Or any other healthcare practitioner and perhaps, a loved one or two or three or so.

Now this brings me to the present.  In my world, because of the pandemic I don't do many things I'd done before. I'm disciplined enough to refrain and not feel like my freedoms are too curtailed. I see it as a reasonable effort.  There's an old song. It was sung by the Byrds, "Turn! Turn!Turn!". The tag line is probably an older version more recognizable, "to everything there is a season...".

The song holds truths. There is a time and place for everything.  Right now as has been, nearly two years past, is a time for extra-caution. Caution in minding what we say. Minding how we process our thoughts. Minding our own business.

Yet, I will go out on a limb and say this.  Over these past near two years, I've heard people claim how careful they've been. They are lieing. Because they aren't allowing themselves to realize that in certain social context, it is time to refrain. And if you decide that you can't tolerate refraining from doing things in a social context that could be considered high risk at this point. Then do not walk into a supermarket or shopping area without a mask on. Because frankly, I don't give a damn whether your vaccinated,  believe God or Allah or Buddha or No one, boosted or un-vaccinated.

But I do care if you or your child over the of four are not wearing a mask inside a public area, such a food store. The reason being is this is when you need to consider strangers who may be pregnant,  have an infant, or are immune compromised and also people over age seventy. At the very least, you should consider them. 

Because I know, most of you aren't sanitizing your bathrooms regularly.  You're not washing your hands after you've put hand sanitizers on them, as soon as you get home. You may put your hand sanitized hands on everything in your home, including going to the bathroom. And I'm no rocket scientist here...  but all that chemical that your not washing off may just have its repercussions on you.  Just like triclosan, various pesticides,  over building and greed. It all has its deadly consequences,  and not always on you... but on the future and people you may love.---Jody-Lynn Reicher