One thing that drives me crazy is when people - myself included - pretend life is perfect. Or at least always good.
Life's hard, and it's ok to admit we don't live that perfect life.
Something I don't admit, and sometimes even hide, is the fact that I have epilepsy.
Life's hard, and it's ok to admit we don't live that perfect life.
Something I don't admit, and sometimes even hide, is the fact that I have epilepsy.
For me I had no seizures or seizure activity as a kid. It was adult onset when I was 26 or 27 years old. It was probably the scariest thing I can remember happening to me, and even more so - to my my wife seeing it.
Some people with epilepsy have multiple seizures a day, and it's tremendously difficult to live a "normal" life. I'm fortunate in that mine are *largely* controlled through anti-seizure medication, and after my initial two episodes, I didn't have any for 6 years.
Then I started having them - on average - maybe once a year. I'd have migraine-type vision issues between them, but not full seizures. Mine also only happen at night about 90 minutes after I fall asleep.
Over the past 2 months, I've had 3. Which is far above my baseline. It was a reminder how much they suck. For me - yes - but even more so for my wife who witnesses them. They're petrifying scary to see.
One recently happened in a hotel room, and two of our kids saw it as well.
One recently happened in a hotel room, and two of our kids saw it as well.
For some reason I have very little hesitation sharing my emotional and spiritual shortcomings with most people, but when it comes to my physical shortcomings, I clam up. I hate that my kids know their dad isn't superman. And to a different degree, that others know as well.
This isn't any type of attention-seeking grab (I don't think) - but rather it's just an encouragement to be open about our faults and weaknesses.
It's easy to boast (and exaggerate) our wins and our strengths.
It's harder to admit where we're weak.
It's easy to boast (and exaggerate) our wins and our strengths.
It's harder to admit where we're weak.
It also just dawned on me that May is mental health awareness month.
Epilepsy is a brain issue with neurons physically short circuiting, but it's also a mental one. It's helped me to admit to friends (and now to a much larger collection of them) that I'm flawed in this way.
Epilepsy is a brain issue with neurons physically short circuiting, but it's also a mental one. It's helped me to admit to friends (and now to a much larger collection of them) that I'm flawed in this way.
I'm not perfect - even in admitting my imperfection - but I think we'd all be better off seeking to share not just our strengths, but also our faults. We might be surprised at the deepening of relationships and shared struggles.
🙏❤️
🙏❤️
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