One great thing about
convalescence is that I have plenty of time to read and think. Sometimes this
leads to a mental break-through, a putting-things-together moment, a flash of
insight.
It started when my pal
Linda sent me a link to “Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive.”* Watching this TEDx video got me thinking about the
difference between optimist and pessimism.
The subjunctive is used
to express unreality in its various forms our wishes, hopes, judgments, and
much more. It expresses our “if only” and our “what if?” If only often looks to
the past: “If only I hadn’t developed rheumatoid arthritis, I would be a
different woman today.” That’s the
dark side of the subjunctive. What if, on the other hand, often ponders
questions about the future, such as“Would strawberries thrive if we planted them in
the stock tank?”
Trying to envision life
without rheumatoid arthritis would be not only nonproductive, but also
embittering, and I refuse to go there. I’m sticking with reality and
possibilities, such as picking strawberries without bending to the ground.
In the meantime, my hip
is healing well and I’m getting better every day. So, if your hip is worn out
and causing misery, what if you
get a hip replacement? It is much easier than you may fear.
*Sorry, I can't seem to create a viable link to this presentation, but it's easy to find on YouTube.
