[I started reading kaberett and then my comment a-sploded. Including it in this thread because that's where the thought originated].
Okay, so yes, there's the whole hierarchy of needs thing.
I think (?) some people - myself included at one point - might include "good health" among quality of life. Am thinking of a line from Disney's Robin Hood in which Sir Hiss states that, "If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything." Which I now do without. And yeah, it frelling sucks at times. The doctor's appointments, the pain, the paperwork, the pain, the lack of income, the pain, etc. Does that mean I have no quality of life? No.
What takes away quality of life the most, in my opinion (and bear in mind that I am stating this for me not Every-Person-With-Disabilities-Ever) is the attitude that I have no quality of life and that I have nothing to contribute to society because I am unable to do "substantial gainful activity" (legal term).
Typical small talk: Stranger: So, what do you do? Me: I have a disability, so I fill my days with crafting and friendship and video games. *awkward silence*
Anyway, the thing is that I do fill my days with meaning. For me that may be crafting and friendship and video games. For someone else, that might be something completely different. But the trick is to find meaning, something, whether it's collecting pins or eating Wensleydale cheese or saving Gotham. If you have that thing to cling to, even when you have a day when all your other needs are not being met, you can cling to that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Rambling: Quality of Life, Health, Meaning, Purpose
Date: 2013-07-25 02:04 am (UTC)Okay, so yes, there's the whole hierarchy of needs thing.
I think (?) some people - myself included at one point - might include "good health" among quality of life. Am thinking of a line from Disney's Robin Hood in which Sir Hiss states that, "If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything." Which I now do without. And yeah, it frelling sucks at times. The doctor's appointments, the pain, the paperwork, the pain, the lack of income, the pain, etc. Does that mean I have no quality of life? No.
What takes away quality of life the most, in my opinion (and bear in mind that I am stating this for me not Every-Person-With-Disabilities-Ever) is the attitude that I have no quality of life and that I have nothing to contribute to society because I am unable to do "substantial gainful activity" (legal term).
Typical small talk:
Stranger: So, what do you do?
Me: I have a disability, so I fill my days with crafting and friendship and video games.
*awkward silence*
Anyway, the thing is that I do fill my days with meaning. For me that may be crafting and friendship and video games. For someone else, that might be something completely different. But the trick is to find meaning, something, whether it's collecting pins or eating Wensleydale cheese or saving Gotham. If you have that thing to cling to, even when you have a day when all your other needs are not being met, you can cling to that.
/ramble