Insurance; Campbell; Buddhists; comedy

Two things came over the Internet this morning.

First, from the Antichrist--sorry, I mean my health-insurance company. They told me that no, sorry, my dermatologist charged me $1.14 more than they think she should be charging me, so they won't apply that to the deductible. Also, from the doctor who is also a neurologist, who is treating me for my neurological disorder... him, he's charging $2.38 too much for that service, and (I forget how much) too much for that service, and (again) for that service, and well, we won't pay for it and we won't apply the full amount he charged you to your deductible. All of this, by the way, the day after the pharmacy wanted to charge me more than $200 for an athlete's-foot cream--unless, of course, I brought in the magical coupon from my dermatologist to reduce the price to only $100. And those, by the way, are the insurance-approved prices... the same insurance company that isn't willing to pay my neurologist for the acupuncture he uses to keep me from wanting to kill myself (well, it's easy to understand why they don't want to encourage him to do that, if I off myself they won't have to pay anything to anybody, the perfect solution in their minds I'm sure).

And after all that... this came over Facebook; a quote from Joseph Campbell:

‎"We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have
 the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come."

As true for the insurance system as it is for those who suffer from it, and from the things for which we require their assistance.

And yet, it's Campbell's message that is the more important; and certainly, the lesson we M.S.ers are constantly called upon to learn.

That, and the story of the Buddhist monks carrying the woman across the river. Yeah, the insurance company does what it does, but they don't need to ruin my day after I've read and put down their paperwork. Or more precisely, I don't need to ruin my day after I've read and put down their paperwork.

There are times when we need to carry the M.S. across the river, and times when we need to put it down.

Gee, if I had read more Buddhist literature, could I maybe not have gotten M.S.?

Probably doesn't work that way. But, comedy like that, we try very hard to write; and can't, because it doesn't work; but somehow, that's the real comedy, isn't it?