Older people are famous for their physical problems and their recitations of their aches and pains. Like others, I quietly promised myself that as I aged, I would avoid such stereotypical, boring behavior. I now delete that promise. I didn’t realize how interesting the topic gets. I actually am more or less uninterested in relating how my operation went but sometimes I have to talk about it to get to hear about others.
I have basically thought of myself as healthy and unhampered by unusual physical problems. I have heard of bone and skeleton problems, heart disease and strokes, and I think I have a greater chance for difficulties as the years go by. So, when someone relates the story of detection of an impairment, I find it arresting. What were the first symptoms? Were you able to recognize the nature of the problem? Did you seek treatment early? What did your doctor say about the condition? How is your treatment going? What is the prognosis?
The East is famous for its awareness of the powers of the mind but I say that the West is no slouch at thinking-to-make-it-so either. Why don’t men ask directions when lost? They simply refuse to consider themselves lost. Why don’t people go to the doctor? They simply think the ailment away. “Pay no attention!” Resolutely ignore that cough, that twinge, the dizziness. Such sensations are often unreliable and ephemeral anyway. Add the severe limitations of medicine to the value of honest, complete information from actual sufferers and the reasons for fascination with tales of ailments become clear.
