BY: MARK KONING
Since I acquired my brain injury from a viral infection as a child, saying that life is challenging is an understatement:
Public school. High school. Employment. Relationships. Friends and family. Self-awareness. Understanding.
Yeah, even that last one. The ups and downs of dealing with being me. Putting one foot in front of the other, memory loss and being at a loss for words. Looking into the mirror on a regular basis and wondering why these symptoms are so invisible.
But I have always managed to get through. Fighting the good fight both in and out; and along the way I have gained many skills and understanding. Great times with those closest in my life helped drown out any darkness.
But the lingering fatigue, the uncertainty, and a list of big and small issues, have left me wanting one thing: for things to slow down. I always felt that the world around me was at times on fast forward and I was having difficulties catching up.
Because of Covid-19, things have slowed down in some ways. But I still can’t catch-up. I feel though that this time it is not math or language or thought processing, it is something else. I am still tired and stressed and anxious, but for unexplainable reasons, it is a different darkness.
And it is sadly strange and ironic that for someone who shied away from large social gatherings and remained somewhat quiet, we are now being told to keep social distance and even self-isolate. What? How am I supposed to understand?
But. like always, I will adapt somehow, and survive.
There is nothing wrong with slowing down, maintaining some safe distance from large gatherings, and taking a cautious approach to life. It can lead to some beautiful things.
It was said best by Bob Marley, and I hold strongly to it, ‘Light up the Darkness.’
Mark’s passion to lend a helping hand, offer advice and give back, has developed into a moral and social responsibility with the goal of sharing, inspiring and growing, for others as well as himself. His experience as a Survivor, Caregiver, Mentor and Writer, has led to his credibility as an ABI Advocate and author of his life’s story, Challenging Barriers & Walking the Path. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Koning or go to www.markkoning.com.