More On the Language I Use to Describe TBI Recovery

The way we talk about things reflects the way we think about and approach them. I want to look a little more at what I think about the language of recovery. Consider these three statements often used by people:

1. "Mike's on the road to recovery";
   
2. "It's taken almost 3 years for me to recover"; or
   
3. "Once I've fully recovered, I'll be able to ... again" (that's one I myself often used in the past).

I talked about a couple of concepts in Recovery Isn't a Destination, It's a Journey! and How Long Does TBI Recovery Take? Now let's look at how I'd reword the above comments:

1. I think it's nice to compare recovery to a road, but it's not a road that has a definite end! What's wrong with just, "Mike's recovering well"?*
2. It's taken three years to recover...enough to do what? Why not be more specific? For example: "It's taken almost 3 years for me to recover enough to run my business well!"
3. When we talk about being able to do stuff again surely it's better for us to continue being specific! How about this? "First, I had to learn to breath properly while exercising. Next, I'll learn to run again. Then hopefully I'll be able to have another go at an Ironman triathlon."

I know the way I talk about my recovery may seem fairly inconsequential. However, at the most basic level, it affects the way I feel about it - it can make me happy or sad, determined or hesitant. For that reason, I think it very important.

Cheers,
Mike

* You might have read my post, My Regrets. Perhaps this sentence should be, "Mike's recovering fairly well!" :-)