So after closely watching those who are close to me react to the news that I could very well be dead within a weeks time, I decided to document some of what I learned. Again this is just SOME of what I learned, and based soley on a small cross section from my small town USA city. Also this is part 1 of 3....

So anyone who read the article I published, True and Pure Stoicism knows that I had that MRI last week. Good news everyone, I LIVED! There's even better news, I learned some stuff over the course of this past week....and now I'm going to share it with all of you, my readers!

As I told everyone, there was a risk that the MRI held for me, a risk of my life. My reaction to this risk was stoic in nature, that gave me the opportunity to observe and learn some about other people's reactions to potential bad news, This may be sort of choppy in delivery as I'm really looking for the exact proper way to present these observations, yet here it goes.

First off I should say that not everyone has the same reactions and by one person not reacting in such and such way dose not mean they care less (except for one specific reaction.) Most of the reactions were predictable in the sense that they are at least semi-normal responses and expected in cases like the one presented. Some of the reactions I go over here are dangerous, counter-productive and possibly even destructive. Then there are others that are productive and good in nature. First the not so good...

*Keep in mind that the situation in which I observed these various responses is the one in which my life was on the line due to a upcoming medical procedure written about in the previous post*

By far the only one I would personally say is fully bad would be the one act that shows someone could just care less. The simple fact of the matter is, if they don't care they WILL NOT show they do care unless it will make them look better. You should be able to tell if someone genuinely doesn't care and in that case don't waste your time trying to get them to care.

Next would be the 'denialist' the one who acts as if they don't believe that anything could go wrong. The ones who deny the risk entailed. These people could be scared or maybe overwhelemed by the situation. Perhaps they don't want to risk making you mad by acting as if they are or making look as if they are coddling you. Keep in mind that this 'denialist' reaction is okay so long as nothing dose go wrong. If something dose go wrong, this person will most likely regret it for the rest of there lives.

Now another not so good, the 'isolationist'. This is the one who isolates themselves from not only you but maybe even from others. They usually do this trying to cover up there fear of what could happen. They don't want others to know that they are in fact afraid. Now this isn't to say that the isolation is complete and ever present, many times an 'isolationist' will interact with others, but it's not always with a smile on there face.

The final for sure 'not so good' reaction is the one who becomes obsessive about what could go wrong. Let's call this the 'obsessionist' and sadly I don't mean this in a good way. These people demonstrate O.C.D. (Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder) symptoms. They tend to focus on the bad, on the what can go wrong and this is an unbalanced approach that leaves little time to enjoy what could be the last time with somebody.

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