Comments on: Sunday Backtrack: Would You Change It If You Could?

By: Daisy

Daisy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:31:42 +0000

Josh, you didn’t make it sound simple. Don’t put yourself down. I feel that your blog shows the complexity of living with Tourette’s – emphasis on living, not on Tourette’s. I think it’s easier for me to face hearing loss than deaf kids, but I also think they have a more openminded generation around them. My coworkers tend to wonder if I can really handle all the challenges that teaching throws my way. Well, I have, for 14 years.

By: Josh Hanagarne

Josh Hanagarne — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:04:52 +0000

Daisy, I’m sorry if I’ve made it sound more simple than it is. You’re right: it’s anything but. If I had been dealing with the symptoms I am now when I was 17, I would have been lost, and they are nowhere near your son’s challenges. One of the reasons they are bearable is because I am an adult with a decade of trial and error behind me.

By: Daisy

Daisy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:48:44 +0000

“It” is often something that forces us out of our comfort zone and into an active role we might not have chosen otherwise. I didn’t let hearing impairment stop me from getting a music degree; I tell people it’s quality, not quantity of sound that matters. Really, it’s more complex than that.
My son is blind and has Asperger’s; if he could choose, would he choose to be sighted? Or neurotypical? I know he’s suffered through depression frequently in his teens, dealing with being different. At 17, unique is not always good.

By: Josh Hanagarne

Josh Hanagarne — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:08:51 +0000

AnnMaria, thank you for sharing that. You must be an incredibly strong person. What does your daughter compete in?

By: AnnMaria

AnnMaria — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:06:03 +0000

Yes, I would change it. My husband died when my daughters were young. My third child has competed in two Olympics and is en route to 2012. She believes everything happens for a reason and she would not have the drive she was if not for missing her dad at her meets and trying to fill that missing spot. I disagree it is for the best. If he was alive and she never won a medal in her life it would be all right by me. (and I AM her biggest fan)

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:24:58 +0000

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By: Josh Hanagarne

Josh Hanagarne — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:53:23 +0000

Thanks Boris. I’ve never heard of God Grew Tired Of Us. On my way to look it up now.

By: Boris Bachmann

Boris Bachmann — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:28:38 +0000

Plenty of “it” in my life. Not as much as some, more than others, I’m sure.

Maybe we could just call “it” “life’s tough love”, and read “Man’s Search For Meaning” or watch “God Grew Tired Of Us” when we start feeling like life is unfair to us.

Love your posts Josh.

By: Lisis

Lisis — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:59:47 +0000

I don’t know if there IS anything unbearable, really. Things BECOME bearable, as we deal with them one day at a time. First we learn to cope, then we get pretty good at managing, eventually life goes on right around IT.

I remember thinking it would be unbearable to see my son suffering pain, or hospitalized; but when he was, I dealt with it… one day, one moment at a time. IT sucked, but, like all things, was bearable… barely.