Federal Government & USPS Disability Retirement: Self-Perception

The ability of Man to not only have a consciousness of the detached, objective world of phenomena, is shared with all other species; rather, it is the further capacity to have an awareness of self, and step outside of one’s self and be able to view the person who occupies the “I” as one among others, which makes for a higher level of awareness.

Whether other animals share that sense of self-identity in addition to the basic level of consciousness by which we respond and react to the stimuli around us, is always an interesting intellectual debate and discussion to engage.  The problem for the vast human population is not whether we share such second-level consciousness with other species, but rather, how accurate is our self-perception, and to what extend does it do more harm than good.

The capacity of self-awareness is likely tied to the evolutionary process for survivability; yet, such a level of consciousness must be an accurate one, lest it distort one’s reality and the ability to respond appropriately to one’s environment and surroundings.  This is the conundrum for the person who suffers from a medical condition: Are decisions able to be made objectively?  And for the compounding complexity of a psychiatric condition, can one make sound judgements concerning one’s future?

For the Federal and Postal Worker whose medical conditions are impacting one’s ability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job, there is the telltale sign of job performance; but as the vast majority of agencies simply pass people along, such a criteria often lacks in objective measurements.

Ultimately, one “knows” whether one can continue in the same vein as before. For the Federal and Postal Worker, the option to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is one which should always be considered.  The benefit itself is available as part of one’s employment compensation package, and in this day and age where the constant barrage of stresses in the workplace take their toll upon one’s health, it is a benefit worth considering to preserve one’s survivability in this vast chaos called civilization.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Disability Retirement: When the Violin Stops Playing

Self-flagellation is an activity which we all engage in; for, there is always a discovered virtue in being a depicted character worthy of empathy and kind concern.  In movies, television, and in the imaginative creativity stirred in one’s mind through effective novels and novellas, such a character may evoke a background music filled with the mournful sound of a solo violin.

In real life, however, the harshness of quietude lacking in any musical repertoire leaves only the silence of reality in a scene of perpetual encounters with a negation of rectitude; the fact is, music soothes the soul, and enhances the scenes we create, but in real life, the world around us imposes its reality over which we have very little control, for the most part, in directing either the factual circumstances or the orchestra in the background.

For the Federal or Postal Worker who is suffering from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the reality of the impact of one’s medical condition is something which was never requested, never created, nor likely anticipated.

It is simply an “is” which must be dealt with, as in most unexpected encounters with modern life.  There is no background music, no violin repertoire to soothe the feelings of the Federal or Postal Worker; only hard choices to make.

Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal Worker is under FERS or CSRS, and so long as the Federal or Postal Worker has a minimum of 18 months of creditable service, such an option may be a viable one to attain.

As for the mournful sound of a solo violin, it plays only to those who become lost in a world of make-believe; but when the scene ends, we are left with the quiescence of the harsh reality which surrounds us.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: The Balance Tipper

Life requires a series of fine tuning and adjustments; of the balance between work and leisure; when children arrive, of determining priorities, of managing time and recognizing that the things which seemed important to us previously, need to take on a lesser role; of allowing for enough flexibility in order to maintain an equilibrium within a fast-paced world.  But the substantive content which requires controlling the balance of one’s life is not always that which is asked for; it is only the choosing in order to maintain the balance, which is within one’s control.

Sometimes, such choices involve an admixture of good and bad; other times, the options may be severely limited to only negative ones.  For Federal and Postal employees who are beset with a medical condition, such that the medical condition impacts one’s ability to perform the essential elements of one’s job, there comes a critical point of making hard choices.

The balance has already been influenced negatively; the greater amount of one’s time is already being spent on managing the imposition of one’s medical condition; whether in avoiding pain, in going to doctor’s visits, in sleeping excessively, etc.  The proper balance between X and Y has already been “tipped” because of one’s medical condition.

Some other avenue of choice must be gotten, in order to re-balance the content of one’s life.

For Federal and Postal Workers, there is always the option of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS.  It is the ultimate balance tipper — in order to allow for the Federal or Postal Worker to have the restorative quietude to attend to one’s medical condition, and yet have a semblance of economic security in order to survive.

Federal Disability Retirement — a balance tipper in a world which often imposes upon our lives, where choices are limited and options narrow the substantive content of what can be done in order to maintain the proper balance in our lives.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Shrines of Our Own Making

For some inexplicable reason, we construct shrines which are deemed sacred, without ever evaluating whether or not the sanctity of the structure deserves our unwavering devotion and commitment.  Shame, embarrassment and the cognitive infrastructure of self-worth often remain the singular obstacles in preventing the Federal or Postal employee from filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS.

It is the mental constructs of our own making — the shrines of sacred sanctimony — which obstruct the linear progression from a life of constant turmoil to one of relative peace.  And so we are admonished that having a medical condition is somehow shameful; that taking off too much time from work to attend to one’s health somehow devalues the inherent worth of a person.  And we come to believe such folly despite the source of such value-driven thoughts, and make shrines and sacred temples of societal determinations despite the harm to one’s existence.

Life without health is less than a full existence; the self-harm and self-immolation one engages in by continuing on a course of destructive behavior, in ignoring the deterioration of one’s health, is in itself a form of sacrilege; the deconstruction of those very temples we find ourselves trapped within, is often the first step towards recovering one’s health.

Federal Disability Retirement is an option which all Federal and Postal employees who are suffering from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job — should be looked into.  But the first step in the entire process is to revisit the shrines of our own making, and to determine which sacred cow is blocking the entranceway to a life of fulfillment, as opposed to mere existence of being.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: The Agony of Beginning

Somehow, the agony of beginning a process is the most excruciating; why that should be so is a mystery, when the prefatory phase leading up to actually starting and engaging an activity is probably the period where most people experience the greatest anxiety.  By “beginning” is often a milestone of a mental nature, as in coming to a decision to initiate an activity.

Then, the question remains of bridging the chasm between the thought and the physical action of “doing it”.  Thus, one can “decide” to perform X in one’s own mind, but never actually implement any objectively ascertainable steps to manifest any signs of having begun the process in order to reach point Y. Beginning the process must follow a sequence of steps.

In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it is important to close the gap between thinking about it, and actually doing it.  Agencies often get frustrated with mere words; they want to see some evidence, some progress; and even if it is information regarding having retained a Federal Disability Retirement attorney, or some communication concerning the process and the progress made, will often delay an administrative action or sanction contemplated.

As OPM takes an inordinate amount of time in making a decision on any given case, it is important to take the necessary initial steps, and to submit a Federal Disability Retirement packet within a reasonable period of time, and to shorten the period of agony and anguish, by initiating the administrative process of Federal OPM Disability Retirement.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: The Coming Year

The Calendar says it is now 2013.  For those preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it matters little as to the designation of the year.  A chronic medical condition makes no conceptual distinction from year to year; the impact upon one’s ability/inability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job is not distinguishable between December 31 or January 1.  

For those who have filed with the Office of Personnel Management, the fact of the waiting period itself merely magnifies — that we are now into “another” year — the lengthy process which the bureaucratic morass forces the Federal or Postal employee to undergo and endure.  The “coming year” is, for the Federal or Postal employee filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from OPM, a continuum of the previous year.  It is not the days immediately before, or just after, which makes a difference.  Rather, it is ultimately the approval from the Office of Personnel Management which will make all the difference.  

To appreciate that “difference”, the best that the Federal or Postal employee seeking Federal Disability Retirement benefits can do, is to:  increase the chances of an approval of an OPM Disability Retirement application; limit the mistakes which can subvert or otherwise damage a Federal Disability Retirement application; and always, always affirmatively prove one’s case with the best evidence possible.  That way, the coming year will have turned out to be a fruitful one, and distinguishable from the previous year.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Federal Disability Retirement: Fiscal and Other Cliffs

The general public is, by and large, rather puzzled by the inability of the Executive and Legislative branches to come to terms with the impending “fiscal cliff” facing the nation, precisely because they face such hard decisions on a microcosmic level on a daily basis.

In representing Federal and Postal employees to obtain Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it is clear that the “everyday person” faces tasks and obstacles which require hard decision-making almost on a daily basis.

The surreal world of the Federal Government, where there is never a debt limit, and where the hardest task is determined by the difficulty of reelection, fails to properly recognize and appreciate the daily toil of its own workers.  Proper management at the highest levels of government should be presumed to take place, so that the “field workers” can continue doing their duties.

For the Federal or Postal Worker who has come to a point in his or her life that the positional duties cannot be performed, anymore, the decision to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is one which comes with a harsh realization:  one’s chosen career may be effectively over; the camaraderie and interaction with coworkers will cease; the financial security of one’s future will be compromised, etc. But necessity of action results in the making of such decisions, and Federal and Postal employees must, and do, make such decisions on a daily basis.

They face fiscal and other cliffs almost daily; as greater responsibility falls upon those in higher echelons, it is a puzzle why there is a cliff at all.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire