By Meredith Mathis — 2021
You can build back your life
Read on taskandpurpose.com
CLEAR ALL
Body neutrality, I think, has the power to be really useful in particular to people with disabilities, especially those with chronic pain or people with progressive diagnoses.
“Body positivity is all about having a good relationship with your body.” Well that’s what everyone keeps telling me. The only problem is, if I told anyone about the way my body treats me, they would tell me it’s a relationship I need to get the hell out of.
With each diagnosis, knowing her life hung in the balance, she was “stunned, then anguished” and astonished by “how much energy it takes to get from the bad news to actually starting on the return path to health.”
The reality of being a disabled person on Medicaid is far more complex and nuanced. Many people do not even know the difference between Medicaid and Medicare and simply consider them “entitlement programs,” as if tax breaks and corporate subsidies aren’t entitlements by another name.
Last week was the one-year anniversary of the beginning of my husband’s health crisis. As I gaze at the permanent handicap placard and at him sleeping, once again, on the couch, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned this past year.
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