Good morning, bjk3 (@bjk3)

Thank you for all that you said! Your words were wonderful to find on waking up this morning.

I know what you mean about the quiet frustration we sometimes feel when, on the one hand, we have a group of genuinely supportive friends who acknowledge our condition but then, on the other hand, still occasionally ask us to do things we're unable or uncomfortable doing. It seems almost every day, at least once, I'll find myself saying, "Oh, but you forget, I can't do that."

However, what I must watch out for is saying to myself: "Be careful, Ray. You can't do that" – when I really can, IF I go slowly, carefully, watching for the littlest hazards that, to someone without our condition, wouldn't be hazards at all. Life on a balance beam, that's what it can feel like, between too much caution on one side and too much boldness on the other.

When I'm feeling self-focused (something I try to avoid feeling), I catch myself wishing: If only my supportive friends could more fully understand the balance beam I'm walking every waking hour of every day.

Again, bjk3, thank you for your kind words!

Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)