Last Updated on December 20, 2021
Before going “whole-hog” with anything in life, the greater wisdom often confirms that we should try and obtain a differing perspective on the matter, if only to affirm the correctness of our own, or to consider the fissures and weaknesses we are blind to. Wise people seek wisdom; fools travel down roads not merely untested, but even unprepared. Such a tautology is a mere self-evident fact of life, but we nevertheless follow blindly where the blind leads.
If an individual discounts the criticisms of everyone else, then the wisdom one holds is merely the price of one’s own mistakes, and so long as others are not required to pay for them, the pathway to disaster can be easily paved without involving the toil and anguish of others.
One may query: assuming it is wise to seek the input of another, how does one nevertheless know that such a differing viewpoint is “helpful” at all? What if that other perspective is even worse of a disaster than my own? Such a question, of course, is likely asked in a vacuum; for, there are varying indicators that one may discern in seeking advice from others – reputation; demeanor; knowledge previously revealed; capacity to listen; established specialty in a particular field, etc.
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are considering preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset – the need to seek the helpful “other” perspective is often a necessary prerequisite.
Why?
Because, when a medical condition is impacting one’s health – whether singularly physical, or mental or a combination of both – the debilitated state that one experiences often provides a skewered perspective, and that is why garnering and employing the advice of an attorney who is experienced in Federal Disability Retirement Law is often a necessary component of the process.
Yes, there may well be those rare “slam-dunk” cases, whether gathering and submitting the medical records alone will obtain an approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. But, then, everyone who files a Federal Disability Retirement application believes his or her submission to be just that – undeniable, unequivocally established, and unassailably confirmed.
Why is that?
Because the person who experiences the medical condition is the same person who is preparing the Federal Disability Retirement application – and he or she who feels the pain, presupposes that everyone else must also be able to comprehend such a state of decline. Unfortunately, this is not the case – at least, not from the perspective of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which is also another one of those “other” perspectives that must be contended with.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
FERS Disability Retirement Lawyer