I spent this afternoon catching up for over five hours with a good friend of mine, who is facing one of those adult dilemmas that really make you realize that you are an adult. Her boyfriend, who she has lived with for over three years, has now pretty much become incapacitated because of shoulder injuries he’s sustained to both shoulders, and they are waiting for his surgery, which because he has VA insurance, has a wait of at least six weeks. After that, his recovery period is estimated to be about six to nine months until he is 100 percent. So because of this, she’s been doing everything for him – his cooking, his cleaning, all his errands. He can’t really work, so they’re not sure what they will do money-wise because even if he gets any type of disability, it’s not going to be like his regular income.

It made me sad to see how stressed out and overworked she is feeling. But then part of me thought, well, maybe if he hadn’t been as careless while bike-riding through a city like New York, perhaps he wouldn’t have such ridiculous injuries now. Maybe if he chose not to make such risky moves on his bike as he did repeatedly, he would be fine now. Maybe, if he got his old shoulder injuries addressed when they happened in the past at each point, there would not be such a necessity to have this major surgery done now and have it affect my friend. It’s sad how the choices we make yesterday can have such a negative impact on our lives today. But again, I suppose that’s just part of being an adult and living with the consequences of our actions.