Comments on: Do We Want to Keep Up with Healthy People Anyway?

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:14:16 +0000

Hi, ladies, Thanks for listening and inviting comment. We can try (as I do) to tell the world around us to S-L-O-W D-O-W-N, but even with the example of all of us chronic illness folks (at last count more than 50%), they can’t seem to say NO. All of us are aware that we got worse faster when our pace is too intense, we warn, but we don’t get an ear. We’re often labeled as “lazy” or told we’re not “team players.” So far, I’ve been pretty blest where I work; yes, there are times when the regulatory demands pressure the higher ups and they need more from us (our tax dollars at work?) – but they try to talk reason. Not all do. So, it strikes me – all the pressures we put on government to regulate industry, can and often do translate into having the same people do double, even triple, work. If the company hires enough people to do the job, prices go up, profits dive – no business = no job. Knowing this, we keep up the frentic pace. And no one questions why executive perks can run into the billions (esp. for CEOs) while we ruin our national health on a runaway treadmill. Doesn’t mean we stop trying, though! Amy

By: Joan Friedlander

Joan Friedlander — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:31:39 +0000

Judith, you’re the second person we’ve heard from who has suggested, in essence, this is an uphill battle we may not win. We may not, but something has got to give, eventually.

I think your point that “slowing down goes against our ingrained work ethic” is right on point. There is something in us – probably the basis of the founding of our Country – that places a high value on working hard. And, then individuals get sick, or have something else go haywire, enough to wake them up to another alternative.

If the number of people with chronic and autoimmune illnesses continues to grow into more millions, as it seems to be, we may see a slow change. In the meantime, we each have the opportunity to make conscious choices. Except for our illnesses, our friends and neighbors might actually envy our slower paces.
Joan

By: Rosalind

Rosalind — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:02:56 +0000

Hey Judith –
Thanks for sharing. And, amen to that.

By: Judith

Judith — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:55:12 +0000

Yes, the pace is ridiculous! Perhaps this is why more women with chronic illness do not think they can return to any kind of work, along with what they do at home, if they have children! Also, after reading the book, “Nickle and Dimed,” our lower earning sisters don’t have much choice between working or disability.

In order for the rest of the world to slow down, you are talking about changing productivity and the profit share of millions of companies. NOT an easy task, my dear. I am no expert on labor laws, but even with the sleep medicine industry pushing for later school start times for teens and possible rest periods at our lowest ebb during the afternoon, no one seems to be listening. Somehow in America, slowing down goes against our ingrained work ethic. It seems to smack of lower intelligence, old age and/or sloth.

As a parent with a unique family of individuals all with chronic illnesses I would love to see a slower world. But in the meantime, we carve out an exisitence among our fast-flying alien-looking friends and neighbors.

Glad to find your site, BTW. I look forward to the book.

Judith