With apologies to those who are also on LinkedIn.
Today marks two years since my stroke, and yes, it has turned my life and my plans upside-down.
Recently, a past student in the department said (on LinkedIn) that I was the embodiment of the Stockdale Paradox. Of course, I had to check this out, so I’ll leave it to you to do the same! At its heart, one looks at the position one is in, with the full reality of its situation as the background, and devise ways to gradually overcome it. The process can be harsh and requires resilience, but the overall aim is gradual improvement and the ignoring of failures. It is very like the Christian ethos of “Taking every thought captive” as a means of holiness/self-improvement, knowing that one has already been redeemed, and that a failure is merely a temporary set-back. The two are very similar even if the language used is very different.
I have also been reminded that I still have two perfectly functioning ears, so I can listen intelligently to music even if I cannot yet play the violin again. So I get to be grateful when I could be utterly miserable. Yes, I miss the cut and thrust of performing in an orchestra in front of a live audience, and my overall intent is, somehow, to return to that, but I can also be satisfied with now too.
So some of these actions are painful to do, but the possible rewards are great.
And, not being melodramatic, I am here, and still able to enjoy my wife, my kids, my granddaughter, singing in church choir, a lot of person-to-person fellowship, and so on. Indeed, I owe so much to people who are close to me, and I couldn’t have done as well as I have done without them around. So there are frustrations, but I am cognitively able once more to enjoy so many things.