guess what i found out today? i have a learning disability. i won't go into how i discovered this, but dave young explained that being dyslexic with numbers is called dyscalculia. he has it too and pieced it together when i said i get things like 78 and 87 confused. other symptoms include difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of distance or an object. inability to comprehend financial planning, and difficulty with conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time. there are other things i don't have, but those ones are definite challenges for me. i have to tell you, it's a relief to find this out. when i was a kid i was tested for learning disabilities, but the results were inconclusive. and it turns out that this dyscalculia is rare, so i imagine quite uncommonly diagnosed. it's such a relief to realize that i'm not just stupid. in light of this, i won't use it as an excuse for bad behaviour – lateness or whatever. instead, it will help me understand that i must live in the world a little differently. i'll have to be more careful when i try to estimate how long a task will take – i'd already caught-on to the fact that i'm poor at time management, but this gives me incentive to try to find ways of coping with it better.
i chatted with this old lady at special meals today. it was really nice. she had interesting stories, and it made me imagine what it will be like to be old. oddly enough, she was probably the first elderly person i've talked to in YEARS. i last saw my grandma in 2005, she lived in the UK and other than her, i haven't had many elderly people in my life. i wanted to hear all her stories. find out how her life has been. i look forward to hearing about the lives of my old lady friends when i'm an old lady. there was a man there who comes on a regular basis who has thick dreads (he's probably in his 40s or something), he's super nice. andrew thought he noticed my hair right away and that it made him like me more than the others. people are fascinating. sometimes i wish there wasn't so much politics and we could all just know each other. life would be so much easier.
al suggested i give melissa up for lent. he figured i should give up something that would be hard to live without. she didn't quite jive with his logic because it would mean she'd have to give me up too.
when you lose something you cannot replace.
5 comments:
al was just kidding. he too has a learning disability.
he speaks more than he thinks.
:) http://jordin-confessionsofalostsoul.blogspot.com/2007/02/lent.html
I found this to be a great experience. And I'm not advocating giving up Melissa!
Oh, Al!
The lack of elderly people at Next has been a real problem for some people. I do think we all could benefit from having more of them in our lives.
les, maybe we should spend more time together during lent instead!
al, I am glad that you came to your senses.
jordin... I loved reading about your insights into lent.
i thought it was a funny suggestion.
i don't actually mind not having elderly at next. i can't say i've had positive experience with them in church settings before. however, i do wish i'd known my grandparents better. but i suppose it's not too late to befriend old people, i don't think i was particularly mature enough before.
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