During an interview with the Express newspaper, I was asked the familiar question, "do you ever ask yourself, why me?"
I think that spending any kind of time in a spinal unit makes it obvious that people can and do suffer spinal cord injuries in the most random ways, from death-defying stunts going wrong to slipping in the shower. The question "Why me?" might just as well be "Why not me?"
Another oft offered platitude is ,"Everything happens for a reason." Well, actually no. Everything happens because something causes it to happen. May sound like semantics, but it is an important distinction.
The cause might be a missed equipment fault, a misunderstanding, a mysterious set of coincidences, or just a simple mistake. But this is different to something happening 'for' a reason. For a reason suggests that there is some larger plan which we are not privy to. And there is not. Well, the extremely remote possibility that there might be is of no practical help whatsoever.
"There's always someone worse off than you."
How is this meant to help? And does this mean that if we were all ok, we'd have to inflict some awfulness on one person just so that the rest of us could feel better?
"Live each day like it's your last."
Just what would that do to all your relationships with those around you? Surely you'd spend half your time blubbing and the other half running up a massive credit card bill.
"That which doesn't kill me only makes me stronger."
What if you're bulimic?
I could go on, but instead, I'll finish with a quote.
"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. ." Groucho Marx.
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