I’m not sure I am on board with all of my fellow
narcoleptics. I’ve seen how upset they’ve gotten over the recent Modern Family
episode that talked about narcolepsy and then the Black Box episode. I get it,
it sucks that a show aired to millions of people and got Narcolepsy “wrong” or
misinterpreted the sleep disorder. But are we all really that negative these
days? I mean narcolepsy was aired on popular shows that spiked awareness of it
even being a condition in the first place. Can we not see the good in it; we at
least got past the ever so famous “rat race” interpretation.
I just feel like the narcolepsy community needs to take this
opportunity to educate people who talk about the episode and say, “Hey no it’s
not exactly like that, this is how it is”. Don’t like talking about the
condition or don’t like educating people about it? Then sit back and watch it
get misinterpreted. You can’t be upset about something you’re not willing to change…and
getting upset and mad is a waste of energy that won't change peoples opinions about Narcolepsy.
It’s like the Facebook forums where we are suppose to get
support…if you take it all seriously damn rights you’re going to be depressed
and get thinking it’s the end of your life. But you have to see the good in it
all, people post what works for them and that may not be what works for you.
Flip side it could be the ultimate game changer and improve your quality of
life. Everyone’s narcolepsy is different, it’s not even fully understood. So
why do we sit here and get upset about misinterpretations when these
misinterpretations are allowing us to educate and change point of views.
We are not the ONLY people who have an illness that has
misconceptions…there are plenty out there and ultimately they all had to start
somewhere too.
I understand the negative comments, the negative feedback,
the person who thinks they have got the cure are all discouraging. People suck,
people aren’t perfect and that’s the bottom line. Narcolepsy is going to be
misinterpreted at times and it’s going to be dispiriting but I think we just
need to take the time to be positive. If you’re letting people get you down and
you’re fuming over these interpretations then you’re wasting your energy. Take
that energy and put it towards telling someone what it’s really like, educating
someone who wants to be educated. Ultimately at the end of the day, no one is
going to “get” it or completely understand it unless they have it. You can bet
the people who wanted to educate themselves on the condition hit up the Internet
after the episodes and got a dose of what it potentially could be like. As for
the others who laughed it off or think it’s stress related… let them think
that. When someone wants to learn they ask or research and they have an open
mind. Let the close-minded people be close-minded…they aren’t worth your time.
Of course with the post…I’ll say this is just my opinion. My
humble opinion on how negative society as a whole is these days. I may not post
much these days, I may not comment on much in blogs, facebook or twitter…I do
read it all though. I read it all and I don't let it alter my outlook or alter who I tell about narcolepsy.
Stay positive people, and start taking these moments and
turning them into opportunities not bitterness. The more we focus on the bad
the more bad we will see… and I’ll leave it at that.
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