FERS Medical Retirement: The Subtlety of Minimalism

In modernity, it is an art which has been lost.  The flower arrangement which focuses upon a barren branch and a single blossom; a painting reduced to a simplicity uncomplicated; a life without many possessions; a quietude within the bustle of tremendous activity.

The clutter of modern living compels stresses; and yet, is the human body capable of subsuming such high velocity of stresses?  Did evolution allow for enough time to pass so as to develop the resistance to modern stresses?

Anxiety abounds; panic attacks paralyze; depression sets in; the human mind yearns for the subtlety of minimalism, but modern living refuses to submit to such imbalance of desires.

Excess is what modern living requires; and stress is the residual component, the natural but dire consequences.  For, how can the subtlety of minimalism be accepted when all around us the scream of greater expansion yells in a tirade of demanding sponsorship?

We have lost the subtlety of minimalism, its power of quietude, it’s reluctance of dominance.  The “subtle”, by definition, is too delicate to naturally resist the dominance of excess; and “minimalism” is the starvation of gluttony; and together, they face a daunting task against the tide of greed.

Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service Workers who suffer from a medical condition must face that choice; for, the compounding effect both from the disabling medical condition itself and the stresses of needing to work, results in allowing for the dominance of excess.

We choose to replenish the vicious cycle of mental and physical deterioration in a persistent, debilitating way, by choosing modernity’s definition of the “happy life” — of excess.  If it is indeed a choice, then we can also choose to attain the subtlety of minimalism.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal or Postal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of turning towards the subtlety of minimalism and away from the bustle of modernity.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal Disability Retirement Benefits: The Balance Between

There is a balance between the extremes; and that is precisely the whole point of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics — of maintaining the balance between.

Life is full of extremes — of individuals who do nothing, or do too much; of authoritarianism or anarchy; of excessive spending or self-defeating restraint; the key is to find the median, the “middle ground”.

Some would argue, of course, that the mid-point is merely the compromise between the two extremes and thus achieves only a watered-down state of affairs; but that depends upon each individual circumstance.  Is the only option available to succumb to either extreme?

In a Federal Disability Retirement case, the balance between is to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  For, the extremes are: Stay in the job and continue to struggle and to harm yourself by working in a position which continues to be destructive to your health; or, to resign and walk away with nothing.

The balance between is to file for FERS Disability Retirement benefits and seek a different kind of job in the private sector or state government.

Contact a Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law, and begin thinking in terms of the balance between.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer specializing exclusively in FERS Disability Retirement Law

 

Postal & Federal Employee Disability Retirement from the OPM: And then, One Day…

And then, one day, you couldn’t do it anymore.  And then, one day, you were on your own and became an adult.  And then, one day, you no longer had a job.  And then, one day….

We tend to think in terms of today, with remembrances of a past yesterday, never thinking that tomorrow and the “one day” will ever be upon us.  That is why most of the U.S. population is unprepared for an emergency, for retirement, for tomorrow — for the future.  But the future is always upon us, and it can be as soon as tomorrow.

For Federal Employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal position, filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS is precisely that “one day” — although, in reality, it may take a few months to get an approval from OPM.

And then, one day, he was medically retired and had his entire future before him….

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law and begin the process of controlling that “one day” which is already upon you.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS & CSRS: This upside down world

How many whistleblowers would do it all over again?  How many regrets does it take to screw in a lightbulb?  The answer: Few as to the first question, and at least a dozen in response to the second.  For, as to the second query, while one person engages in the mechanical act of lighting up the room, it takes all of the others to fail to assuage the regrets of a person who has tried to do the rights thing, and has lived to suffer the consequences.

We grow up being taught all sorts of empty adages — how “truth reveals all”, or that “justice prevails in the end”; and though the old hero of simplicity has now been replaced by more “complex” characters of mixed good/bad/neutral, still the naïveté of childhood upbringings tend to haunt beyond the loss of innocence delayed.

This is an upside down world where the clear-cut demarcations that once were inviolable have now become obscured, and where leaders can argue with a straight face any and all positions, whether self-contradictory, hypocritical or just plain nonsense, and can get away with it without any regrets or loss of sleep.  Perhaps it has always been like that and we just didn’t realize it.  The wealthy have always been able to get away with more; the powerful, without much consequences; and when the combination of wealth and power become aggregated, there is little to impose any checks and balances that might have tempered the onslaught of injustice.

For the Federal employee and the U.S. Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition, where the medical condition begins to prevent the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the fact that we live in an upside down world becomes exponentially the case because of the medical condition itself.

Progressive deterioration and chronic debilitation are often the rule of a medical condition, and just to survive another day without pain, without emotional or mental anguish — these are the hallmarks of needing to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

The world is about as topsy-turvy as it can get; but when the private world of one’s health begins to deteriorate, that upside down world becomes a tumultuous maze of a conundrum wrapped within an insanity that cannot be escaped from, and that is when you know that preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application becomes a necessity in a universe that requires some wisdom, and turning to the advice of an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement is often the first step in providing a balanced perspective within this upside down world.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

The Genotype-phenotype Distinction and Disability Retirement Benefits for Federal and Postal Employees

The distinction is important in the study of genetics, where the genotype represents the entirety of one’s hereditary information contained in one’s DNA, whereas the phenotype represents the manifestation of that genetic heredity received and retained by any given individual. In simple terms, it is the inner/outer distinction, or in Aristotelian terms, the substance/accident representation, or further, in Platonic characterization, the form/appearance description of the world. It provides for a fascinating study of the theory of evolution, the plasticity and adaptability of a species, and the capacity of survivability within the greater context of environmental pressures and influences.

For the Federal employee and the Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition, such that the medical condition begins to impact one’s ability/inability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s positional duties, the concept of the genotype-phenotype distinction is peripherally interesting to understand, in the following way: The internal struggles eviscerating one’s capacity to perform the Federal or Postal job, will sometimes remain unobtrusive and lacking of evidence by all appearances.

The “phenotype” of a Federal Disability Retirement case may be represented by good performance reviews, lack of awareness by one’s supervisor, and an agency which fails to recognize the struggling Federal or Postal employee. The “genotype” is often the “inner” struggle, characterized by profound fatigue (how does one quantify cumulative exhaustion?), chronic pain (if only pain were color-coded, where white is on the lower spectrum and red is at the extreme end), the where the Federal or Postal employee pushes one’s self to the limit of absurdity until one is ready to collapse in an effort to perform the essential functions of one’s job.

The problem of appearance-versus-substance, or that which is seen as opposed to the hidden reality of a thing, is not a new or unique one. In the context of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, however, whether the Federal employee is under FERS or CSRS, and whether the Postal worker is under FERS or CSRS, it is important to make clear and bring to the surface that which is unrevealed, and that will normally come about through generating an excellent medical report from one’s treating doctor.

Ultimately, a Federal Disability Retirement application is based upon the medical opinion of one’s treating doctor, and the “genotype” of an effective Federal Retirement application must comply with the requirements of the law, the criteria for eligibility, and the expression of that genotype into a coherent representation in the form of a “phenotype” in the preparation, formulation and submission of a Federal Disability application, though OPM, whether one is under FERS or CSRS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire