# How to handle infirmity

It's completely unfair that some people never need to visit the hospital, while some of us need accommodations for even basic tasks:

- Health is a blessing everyone takes for granted until it fails.
- Unfortunately, it's rare for us to regain our health after we've lost it.
- To put in perspective, *everyone* will [die](hardship-death.md), which is the ultimate health failure.

Don't compare yourself to everyone else:

- It's easy to envy others' convenient and carefree lives.
- At the same time, those people have likely not learned the discipline you've mastered, and will have a harder time [succeeding](success-5_persevering.md) at *many* non-health-related activities as you.

Chronic pain is severely difficult, and can become magnified if you think about the future:

- We can only take one day at a time, so [focus on "now"](awareness.md).
- Try to find comfort when the pain subsides, since it proves that long-term pain isn't guaranteed.
- Don't expect anyone else to understand, but be grateful that they care enough to try.

Certain blessings can come with a terminal illness (e.g., cancer):

- The only thing that's changed from before is the *timing* of [death](hardship-death.md).
- Everyone dies, but most people don't thrive until they feel a shortage of time.
- The hardship of health issues often gives the means to easily treat each day as if it were your last, and can be far more [presently satisfied](mind-feelings-happiness.md) than most healthy people.

*Everyone* who doesn't die first will experience declining health through [aging](hardship-aging.md):

- As we grow older, our bodies start wearing out until they stop working.
- In that sense, you've simply jumped ahead to this stage in life faster than they did.

Learn [gratitude](mind-feelings-happiness-focus.md) for each moment:

- Life is an inherent blessing, and the ability to run, dance, or jump is one of the foundational blessings that all other blessings sit on.

Don't obsess about extending your life too much:

- Many times, doctors try to provoke optimism, even when it's inappropriate.
- Many health treatments (especially for cancer) dramatically decrease the quality of life (e.g., chemotherapy).
- Either devote yourself to fighting the cancer and [defeating it](success-5_persevering.md) with every ounce of your existence, or accept early that you don't have the willpower for it and [enjoy](mind-feelings-happiness.md) the last days of your life.