"Beyond acceptance is purpose, " Ted O. said in July 2023. "A terminal illness is a purpose....There are so many purposes we can take on and help other people even though we have dementia."
To that end, Ted and Christy O. communicate information and inspiration in a website, a YouTube channel, and a book, each dedicated to living positively with dementia from a first person perspective:
Dementia Talks (website)
Dementia Talks (videos)
A Personal Journey into Dementia, (Amazon and Kindle)
Wanderinglite.com (dormant Nov. 2023)
Below are excerpts from Dementia Talks, but a fuller reading (or watching videos or listening to podcasts) will yield a fuller understanding:
Categories of things to share are:
Being positive (even if it takes two anti-depressants)
Seeking to enjoy each day (food, fun, friends) even during Covid-19
Looking for alternative solutions to help day to day living
Make life enjoyable
Searching for help
Helping others
We need education about what dementia is to reduce the stigmatism around dementia if we’re ever going to have people start respecting people who have mental diseases...So again, just because you can’t see a disease doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Because positive living is a day-to-day discipline, that is the most necessary requirement to combating dementia.
Things change when you have dementia, too. The sooner you adjust to those changes or implement coping mechanisms or workarounds, the easier it will be for you to deal with the coming changes.
Set your expectations realistically, and simply focus on “Moving Forward” on what matters.
The result of finding purpose is not about setting goals, it is about a lifestyle change. Lifestyle changes can only happen if we change our habits.
Practicing thankfulness, gratitude, and positive living results in improved health physically and mentally and causes us to be present and to see the world through a lens of compassion and love that improves the lives of others as well as ourselves.
I’m Ted that’s all.
May we all find purpose like Ted and Christy O.
