Update:
I had a very busy, active weekend.
I went from one thing to another to another on Friday and Saturday. I was worn out. I used to go-go-go like that all the time;
now it is a reminder to me of how far I still have to go to fully recover. I also apparently pulled a muscle--an oblique
on my left side--on Friday night. It
must have happened on Friday night when I pulled the trailer for the theatre
load-in. I kept stepping over the tongue
of the trailer and I think lifting my prosthesis like that over and over did
it. So I am trying to rest those muscles
to get them to heal; that means using the wheelchair and minimal use of my
prosthesis today.
Sunday morning, I started church out with a little fun. A friend sent me a stuffed parrot as a joke
and wanted me to wear it and my eye patch to church on Sunday morning. Everyone has been teasing me about becoming a
pirate. So I put on my bandanna, the eye
patch, and propped the parrot up on my shoulder during the beginning of the
announcements. I told people that the
laugh they got was a reward for being at church on time. Those who came in late missed it. I did have a few people mention to me that
they heard that they had missed it. The
moral of the story is be on time to church because you never know what you’ll
miss!
A number of children at church have asked how I was able to walk; so I
promised to show off my prosthesis and how it works after church. I had a good crowd of kids with a few adults
sprinkled in. They were all very
attentive. What they really wanted to
see was the foot on my prosthesis. It
sounds like they thought I had my biological foot attached to my prosthetic leg. So I took the shoe and the sock off and
showed them everything. I think that I
satisfied their curiosity.
My family went out to eat after church to celebrate my daughter-in-law,
Amelia’s, birthday. Not only did we have
a great meal but we got to watch a flock of turkeys off on a hillside. After the meal I drove past the turkeys to
get a better look. There were a number
of toms fanning. Unfortunately someone
else who wanted to “drive on the road” made me stop gawking long before I
wanted to leave.
I was beyond exhaustion when we arrived home so I crawled into bed for
a long Sunday afternoon nap (4½ hours).
I got up for a few hours late at night and then went back to bed for my
regular seven hours sleep. I’m feeling
pretty well rested this morning. I am
going to take it easy today and not do anything more than I have to (it’s my
day off).
I do have an appointment with my retina specialist this afternoon. This is a follow-up appointment for further
evaluation. I am not certain everything
that it will entail or how extensive his exam will be. I am not certain if my eyes have stabilized enough
for the surgery to attempt to improve my vision. We’ll have to wait and see what the doctor
finds out. Since the surgery, I have not
had any noticeable vision loss. I have
recognized that my night vision in my right eye has improved and that is
encouraging.
Thought for the Day:
Mark Twain said, “I have been through some terrible things in my life,
some of which actually happened.”
Let’s face it. Worry and anxious
thoughts can consume us. It really doesn’t
matter how likely it is for them to really happen—we can be consumed by remote
possibilities if we allow our minds to focus upon them. We can stress ourselves out rehashing past
failures and get eaten alive by “I should have done this” and “I shouldn’t have
done that.” I am all for learning from
our past—but we can’t dwell on it and allow our past to consume our present or
our future.
“Without question, many of us have mastered the neurotic art of
spending much of our lives worrying about a variety of things—all at once. We allow past problems and future concerns to
dominate our present moments, so much so that we end up anxious, frustrated,
depressed, and hopeless. On the flip
side, we also postpone our gratification, our stated priorities, and our
happiness, often convincing ‘ourselves that “someday’ will be better than today.
Unfortunately, the same mental dynamics that tell us to look toward the future
will only repeat themselves so that ‘someday’ never actually arrives” [Michael
Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff].
So with clarity from considering our past and what our future currently
holds if we remain on our current course, let’s focus upon the present. Let us do what we can do to shape tomorrow
into something better. Let’s enjoy life
in the here and now. Look for and find
those nuggets of happiness and make some good memories.
Isn’t strange how as people age they look back upon the “good old days”
yet at the time they weren’t really happy because they were looking forward to “better
days ahead.” In the dead of winter we
look forward to the heat of summer and when summer arrives we long for cooler
weather.
Let’s practice the art of contentment—being satisfied with the here and
now. There is nothing wrong with
striving for a better future; unless you sacrifice the joys of today for the
maybes of tomorrow. Don’t waste time
worrying about things that you cannot change.
Carpe Diem!
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