Ostomy Memories of Keeping On

IT TAKES A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF COURAGE to live life, bravery in the face of constant and often overwhelming challenges. Like life-threatening illness and eventual ostomy surgery. In most areas of endeavor, cowards don’t succeed, unless they’re politicians, but then they’ve chosen a profession mandating cowardice. The rest of us, through all the often-undeserved hurdles that fate plops into our path, we keep on keeping on. “Life can only be understood backwards,” wrote Sören Kierkegaard, “but it must be lived forward.” I think he was overly optimistic with respect to understanding our past. All the countless times I’ve gone over past experience in my head, and there is still much I don’t get. Why did I do that? It made no sense! There are just too many things that impact our backward glances: faulty memory, ego, a history of drug use, overactive imagination, and conflict of interest to cite a few. That’s why I also take issue with the old saying about hindsight being 20/20. That’s overly optimistic nonsense. Or world-class delusion. An untalented athlete, for instance, is likely kidding himself, after his loss, by thinking…if only I’d practiced two more hours a day. It can be really hard to be honest with yourself. I have a friend who always wanted to be a stand-up comedian. He became a Circuit Judge instead. I think there’s a joke in there somewhere.

Hi HenryM,

You're absolutely right about the courage it takes to face life's challenges, especially when dealing with health issues and surgeries. This community is full of people who understand and are here to support you. You'll find plenty of encouragement and shared experiences from everyone here.

Reflecting on the past can be tricky, and it's true that our memories and perceptions can be clouded by many factors. It's important to be kind to ourselves and recognize that we're all doing the best we can with the information and circumstances we have at the time. Your perspective on hindsight is insightful, and it's something many of us can relate to.

With thousands of members on this site, you can use the search feature to find others nearby or those who share similar experiences. Connecting with people around your age or in your area might provide even more comfort and understanding. We're all in this together, and there's always someone willing to listen or share advice.

Another thought provoking post Henry....and I have the punch line for you. Hope you don't mind?

"They laughed when I said I was going to do stand-up comedy, well they're not laughing now!"

Keep well.

V.J.😷

All you get from looking backwards is a sore neck ..

Hello henryM.

Thanks for bringing this concept to the fore, as it seems to be one of several useful aspects of life to contemplate a little more fully. 

In days gone by, when I needed to help people grasp the importance of some of the fundamentals of 'going forward' in life, the concept of 'looking forward' was one which seemed to be important. 

I have already documented this elswhere (as 'Concept 4. views'), so I'll try to reproduce it below:

Best wishes

Bill

PS: Unfortunately I cannot seem to download this page as it's in the wrong format and I am not computer literate enough to get around the problem. Thus, this is one where I'll have to give up and not look back!