I realized I needed to "gracefully" retire from a 30-year career, after I screamed at someone to SHUT UP. I supervised subsidized housing properties, and when the residents were unhappy with site management, HUD policy, or life in general, they called me to complain. These were women who had never worked a day in their lives, and were required to comply with HUD policy or loose their subsidy. The sicker I got, the harder I found it to listen to their excuses and complaints.

I always made it a policy to let them "talk it all out" before I tried to respond. But, the whole time I was listening, all I kept thinking was they were more capable of holding down a job than I was. Yet, I kept putting in my 60 hours a week, just so their whiney little a@@es could live off my tax dollars.

I finally had it after an emergency hospitalization. I probably tried to return to work too quickly, or maybe I had finally just run out of patience, or maybe the meds made me cranky, or....

It really doesn't matter, because I found that I am finally relaxed and at peace. Friends used to ask me if the stress of the job contributed to the neuropathy. I always told them No. But, I have finally realized I was wrong.

So, who cares if "they" think you are lazy. You know better. Just tell them the pain feels like a sunburn rubbed with steel wool. They will never think you lazy again.