Terry, I know what you mean about giving an honest response to some stranger that asks how you are doing. To be honest, sometimes I just let it out. I do surprise them but to my surprise people can relate and be supportive. I have met some really nice people that way, you would be surprised, I was.

And Rose if you do decide to tell the hiring person for that potential job, you are going to have to put yourself in her chair and how you would look at that information.

I am not saying to not be honest but when you talk about being honest and putting your cards on that table, you cannot forget the positive of your condition. In other words, you can present your struggles "BUT" you can also add that your struggles have given you more ability to access situations realistically and can suggest better ways of dealing with situations.

Always remember each person struggles in their own way and often we are truely judged on how we rise above and have used our own personal experiences as a better way of connecting to others, can be a real positive in the providing for care in others in the health care field.

While you do often like my advice and consider it very helpful, you do know that I have struggled myself and because of that I understand what you not only want to hear but need to hear to make progress. It is so important for you, yourself to truely understand that. Do you struggle with challenges, yes, but you have to know that those very challenges have afforded you a very important way of truely understanding the needs of others. Just as we come to PC and find so much support because of others facing the same struggles, there is a value to that exposure, a sense of a much higher understanding of other human beings.

We often talk about how we would like the world outside PC to be like PC, but we often prevent that ourselves by hiding our truths with others.
I often think that is why people tell me things they would not normally tell others, I put myself out there as well and that gives them permission to do the same. Does it always work? No, but it doesn't always work in PC either does it. But if you consider the odds chances are with the right presentation it CAN work.

So really think Rose about how you can be honest and yet show a value in your personal experience. There can be a hidden value to everything we experience and learn ways to overcome. Rose review some of your very supportive posts that really helped others here at PC. You really impressed me and showed a very intelligent, capable part of you. That is what you have to convey to YOURSELF CONSCIOUSLY and it is big plus to others. And you did have a work situation that made a difference in your life, it can happen again.

Open Eyes