Winning against AMD
2.4 Channel that anger
Channel that anger and frustration into helping you devise ways of checking that the road is clear, devise ways of doing things, of finding new activities, and of creating many new friendships.
You need your brain to be in a blind fury and to kick out at your frustrations.
Now, take each frustration and break the problem down into its constituent parts and then work out a way to deal with each element.
Break it into a series of steps and mini-steps and then tackle each in turn. You have got plenty of time, so just work it out logically one bit at a time.
The key questions are always Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How. The most important is Why or why this way, why not that way?
Let`s take an example.
Going for a walk.
What`s the weather like? I check with the weather forecast app on my smartphone. Do I need my raincoat or my sunhat? Where are my waterproof shoes?
How far do I normally walk, what route can I take to extend that distance. Now what roads do I need to cross. Where is the simplest route with the safest place to cross the road. Can I work out my way back? Can I do it without using a white stick?
My first real test for myself was to plan the route from home in Shoreham By Sea to a hotel in York, for a training course run by the Macular Society.
- Buy rail ticket (from Trainline, by phone, and get it posted to my home.
- Memorise the map for getting from York Station to the hotel (don,t forget you cannot read road signs!)
- Walk to railway station.
- Push ticket into platform machine
- Read platform departure board showing trains due (very difficult, sometimes I ask another traveller, though I have tried using a monocular.)
- Get the right train.
- Change trains at Brighton,find new platform (ask a member of platform staff).
- Get the right train to Kings Cross.
- Change platform at Kings Cross.
- Read the departure boards and find train to York, plus platform number (no chance, asked a fellow traveller!)
- Find a seat ( it is easier with Virgin trains as you get a reserved seat with seat no. and carriage no. so you know you won`t be disturbed and their staff will help you find your seat.)
- Get off at York (You need to be able to realise that short station name is probably York!)
- Now find the exit and then get your memorised map out.
- Oh! Yes. Did I mention taking a packed lunch? Oh! Yes. Do work out your backup options for when things go down the tube!
So you do it one mini-step at a time and you practise it. Yes you actually buy a ticket and you go on part of the journey. You have got the time, it is not dramatically expensive and it is all part of the learning experience, and part of your route to the new, better life.
A REAL WIN
Most difficult challenges giving the biggest WIMS.
You can rebuild your self-reliance, resilience and self-confidence.
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Winning against AMD – Age-related Macular Degeneration