Transition- Job to Disability?

It was a good run at work. I did a shade under twenty years with the State of North Carolina working with people transitioning jobs and careers. I did a few years during that time just doing Unemployment Insurance only. I've thought about writing a book about it- True Confessions of a State Employee. I've met a cast of characters (both people I've worked with and served alike) you could meet in no other place than a sate unemployment office; business executives, money men, sales people, technicians, pilots, mechanics, veterans (with and without the 1,000 meter stare), nurses, CNA's forklift drivers, dock people, truck drivers and others who were indeed their own category- dreamers and inventors. Greensboro, NC was and still is a home to refugees and immigrants from the world over. I think there are over one hundred nationalities here and most have passed through our office doors at some point or other. I've met an Olympian from Bulgaria, a surgeon from Cuba, another doctor from The Sudan as well as many who could not read nor write from some of the poorest countries on Earth. Yeah, there are several books worth of characters no doubt. But all things come to an end or do they?

Well, we will see. But for now I'm out making the transition to disability. Time will tell if this is a permanent deal or not. I still have some work in me but I doubt it will be the forty hour a week grind kind. I'll keep my medical issues to myself and Uncle Sam, thanks. Basically, time is catching up to me. It does to all of us sooner or later. So if you are reading this as a healthy person, plan ahead. Set aside funds and develop good fall back skills you can do with your brain. There is no guarantee on tomorrow. I think the best kind of work for people with disabilities is self employment in one form or another. It is about controlling your schedule and workload. It is also important to always have goals, a reason to get up in the morning. There is more to life than a job. I do have things I want to do still- travel more, write more and always read. I'd be bullshitting you if I said I'm fearless. So let me face my fears. Walk with me.

My fears in all of this are being forgotten, out of work out of mind if you will. Will my brain turn to mush watching Youtube, Netflix and the NFL for hours and hours on in? Will my weight explode bringing on further health complications?  Another big worry is losing more of my health and leaving home for a rest home type of deal watching days slip into weeks, months, years until I get the golden toe (cadaver) tag. And the food? Pee smell? Activities? I, too, become that stinky old person no one wants to go see. Will I become someone stuck in the past using data from twenty years ago to argue positions no longer even relevant? All of this is possible but nah. I refuse. I'll do better.

I'll do my part to stay in touch with coworkers, friends and family in meaningful ways. I limit my Youtube and Netflix to two hours a day or less. I can only handle one football game a week. I'll control my diet and continue making exercise a part of the daily routine. My money goes much further overseas. I'll either live out my days with my Vietnamese family in Vietnam or set off for sunny Costa Rica teaching English for fun and profit. Dying among family or new friends sounds better than enriching some rest home conglomeration. That's a no brainier. I'll stay up to date with changing issues and times. It is too important not too. But first things first. Get income.

Thanks to scammers, deadbeats and callous politicians getting disability is a long tedious process and I'm just starting. I hope to avoid lawyers (AKA middlemen) in this process but who knows? It now seems too subjective to me. People who never met me get to decide if I'm "disabled" enough to get anything. Everything Federal takes time. Out of work a few weeks now and I already feel better. I'm seeing friends more, exercising more, writing more and reading more. Not too far down the road I see more travel and fun ahead. For now a loose daily routine is settling in that passes the days filled with progress and meaning. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.