I’m doing what people do when they turn 65. I’m retiring. So, for all of you who know me as well as those of you who don’t, I am officially announcing my retirement from being disabled. “How can you can do this?” some may ask. In fact, I can hear a few of you asking that question right now. Well, I’ll tell you, I gave it some thought, and what I focused on was the idea that those who live normal lives retire from their jobs, why can’t I retire from being disabled? I mean, what’s the difference between what they have done and what I have done?  They have worked hard all their lives and des ..read more

Many of us brain injury survivors live with some degree of anxiety following our brain injuries. This anxiety primarily centers around how we feel about ourselves and our place in the world, and of course, that anxiety can change or become worse based on events happening around us. The Coronavirus, by itself, may not have much to do with Brain Injury, except when our immune system has been compromised, but simply the thought of Coronavirus and how it is affecting the world can make it seem as though the rug is being pulled out from under us; triggering waves of Coronavirus anxiety. Why is Thi ..read more

You know what I’m talking about: the crazy, never-ending noise in our heads; questioning, debating, not believing, not trusting. The bedlam in our brains. That infernal, mind blowing racket that stops us in our tracks. Now, this noise may not begin immediately, but after the initial shock and trauma of our brain injury begins to wear off and we start looking for our old lives, that noise comes out in all its glory; telling us that we can’t do this or are unable to do that; we are no good. Our heads are filled with crippling doubt. With anxiety. With the idea that we are never going to be wha ..read more

Here I am, at age sixty-four, about to enter a new phase of my life: forty-five years after my month-long coma, I’ve reached that age when I can retire. That idea sounds great, so I tell people I am going to retire in a year. Their usual response is, “Well, what are you retiring from?” “I am going to retire from being disabled.” Do I really believe that? No, no I don’t, but, I’ve got to admit, sometimes my mind wanders and I reflect on the past and dream about what the future could be. My Strategy for Success I never thought I was going to “fix” everything I thought was wrong with me. Instead ..read more

At some point during this 43 year “trip” I’ve spent living with a brain injury, I got fed up: too much of my mental energy was being spent getting frustrated and angry because of things other people said to me. That was the moment I decided that I should not allow my mental health or my well being be dependent on the words of  others. I saw that no matter how much I tried to teach and inform others about brain injury and me, I would never be able to control what they actually thought about me and what they said. The only thing to do was learn to control the one thing I could: my reactions. My ..read more

Some acts are obviously courageous: a person runs into a burning building and saves a life, or a bystander dives into a lake to save a drowning person. These are dramatic examples of courage and bravery, when people make spur of the moment decisions and put their own lives at risk in order to save others. There is, however, another, harder to see type of courage, and to appreciate it you’ve got to pay attention because this isn’t dramatic and doesn’t get lot of press. I am talking about the “we have no choice, wake up in the morning and do your work” kind of courage: the kind exhibited by TBI ..read more