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IT IS ALL IN THE BALANCE

When facing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) it is in our interest to keep one foot in this “Brave New World” we know as the AD Lane and deal with it as a spiritual undertaking; two feet is even better.

AD can be spiritual in this way:

Your life with AD presents you with a pretty drastic paradigm shift. Everything becomes different. Your existence is changed. You are at a point that can be described as Ultimate. It is ultimate in this respect: This shift is the last, it finishes in death. It also deals in some pretty heart wrenching experiences getting there.

If you did not know what your life was about before AD, things become much more defined and apparent after AD. Issues arise and become real like:

• Why did it happen to me?
• What can I do to get out of it, to make it go away?
• What will people think if they know?
• How will I take care of myself?
• When will my brain go?
• When will my body go?
• Will my care drain our life savings leaving my spouse without means?
• My God, I have a terminal disease!

If you recognize these issues as yours a logical conclusions asks: “What is it all about?” This question leads to: “There may be something more to all of this than meets the eye!” As the saying goes, “There is no atheist in the foxhole” this can also be said as true when you are in AD Lane.

What do I mean?

Most of us see life framed starting at birth ending with death. You live, you die, and events occur in between. Sometimes they occur in an order, mostly they occur at random. We have but this one life. We weren’t before. At the end we hope there is an after. We hope we go somewhere that is better; but really, we have no idea. We could simply stop.

If life is nothing more than birth and death, separated by random living in between, AD is nothing more than an unfortunate turn of events. Shit Happens!

Hemlock, Cyanide, Dr Kevorkian, Anyone?

Is there more to it than meets the eye? I believe there is!

Our lives do have consequence. Life seems to be a constant turn of cause producing effect, more cause producing more effect or effects producing more effects. The cause and effects of events continue to happen throughout our lives. One thing does lead to another.

It seems in living out the seeming randomness of this period “in between” (viz., in between life and death) a formula manifests itself. When we make the best of what occurs, making the best of what results, as one thing leading to another; if we act in each event to better ourselves, this provides us with the greatest benefit and the maximum satisfaction. We also learn exercising love and compassion for those around us improves our satisfaction far more than acting for our own selfish purpose.

A story can be made of this. Not because it happens once or twice. A narrative can be found in it because it happens continually around us. It did so before us, and, it seems certain it will continue to do so after us with those who follow. What is the story, the narrative? “There is purpose to all of this.”

The time “in between” has a purpose. The first purpose taught us by our experience of it tells us seek the greatest satisfaction available spending this time in between. It also tells us doing so we can and do find the most peace and serenity available to us in that time.

The broader story is this: There is something more that meets the eye beyond life, death and “in between”.

The logic of it all manifested in our experience of it insists something more exists outside of this life which can’t be seen in this life.

From what comes this insistence?

Chaos ultimately produces order to itself science tells us. There seem to be certain immutable laws. Something sent up comes down. Something set in motion stays in motion unless slowed or stopped by a sufficient counterforce. There is either right or wrong, good or bad, yin or yang. I like to believe the randomness of events cannot exist without its counterpart of order. Everything in life seems to have its “either or.” It has its warm or cold, happy or sad, up or down, plus or a minus. The quality of each event has its potential for its opposite otherwise it would not be qualitative.

Looking more closely at the chaos that the randomness of life appears to be, patterns do appear. These patterns put sense to the events. The patterns are represented in choices we make over the events as they occur. As they occur they become similar in purpose or lead to a common result .

What do the patterns disclose?

With each event encountered there are options we are called on to choose. Choose one over the other or some out of many. The options have a common measure. A choice in one direction leads to a better result. A choice in the other direction leads to a worse result. This is of course couched in many nuances. Sorting them out they do resolve down to “either or” that is “the better or the worse.”

The patterns also disclose the choices result in adding to or taking away from the “who” and “what” we establish ourselves to be by living this life. We become endowed with more or less than was there before the choice. The choices all add to or take away from what we were immediately upon birth. The choices are over when we die.

These pluses and minuses of living accrue. Every cause has an effect which links causing other effects. The result of each event is good, bad or neutral. Other than those neutral in effect the good and the bad are purposeful. They count; the good count in the plus and the bad count in the minus columns of the account of our life.

Life can balance these accounts. That adage, “What goes around comes around” can and does happen. Good can produce greater good. Bad can take its account making thing worse or because of it we are prompted to overcome the bad by doing good with it.

If the account is not balanced in life, which we all know happens, what becomes of the benefits one would think accrued by the good acts and the detriments accrued by the bad acts. Does the credit of it pass into oblivion with the life that terminates by death? We all know of cases where good goes unrewarded, and the bad goes rewarded by no retribution visited on them in this life for the bad they have done. Does an accounting just cease?

To say yes defies the logic of our entire life experience. It seems at least in the order we see and come to trust that every cause has its effect as every yin has its yang.

If there is an account that survives the maker of the plus and minus entries this assumes the accounting transcends life in some way. That thought introduces transcendence!

Our actions in life accrue beyond this life!

It is that which makes it all spiritual; that makes it a subject to be dealt with by any religion.

Considered as spiritual it is my personal preference to see AD a dubious gift, given me to do something positive with it. What is it to be positive about? To make my experience helpful to those with whom I have contact. This curse is my blessing, directing me to accept it, work with it and make the best of it. It gives a wonderful opportunity to exercise love and compassion for all of those suffering like me who do not want to suffer. Accepting the pain of an event causing suffering, working with it, relieves the discomfort of it, gives meaning to it, and exchanges the suffering of it for the serenity of having met its challenge.

Whatever joy there is in this world
All comes from desiring others to be happy.
And whatever suffering there is in this world
All comes from desiring myself to be happy.
SHANTIDEVA

Mike Donohue

My Blog: AGING IN PLACE http://im-mike.blogspot.com/

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