Update:
I didn’t tell you one story from Thursday night. After I get my eye injection, I have to put
antibiotic drops in my eye four times a day for five days. My original bottle was basically empty so I
threw it in the trash on Thursday morning.
I got out my new bottle of drops and took it with me to work. On my way home I took the bottle out of my
pocket and left it in the truck. Later I rode with the police until about
midnight and then got ready for bed.
After I had my leg off and everything clean and sprayed down I
remembered that I hadn’t taken my drops and that my bottle was out in the
truck. At 12:45 a.m. I really didn’t
want to ride my wheelchair down the ramp, grab the medication and then have to
get myself back up the ramp and back into the house—I was too tired. So I did what most men would do—I dug around in
the trash until I found the old bottle.
After washing it off, I managed to get one more drop out of the bottle
and then went to bed very satisfied. I
still cannot believe I really did that!
At work, our trial subscription for Office 365 is about to run
out. We decided to purchase it when the
screen came up that it was $150 for each user.
All the previous screens seem to indicate that you could install it on
multiple computers with different users for that one low price! Sold!--until that fateful screen that
suddenly said EACH. After searching we
decided just to go with a standard Office Suite it was going to cost about $170
for each computer (the $150 was every year; the $170 was a one-time
purchase). I decided to drive the ten
miles in to Best Buy to make certain I got the tax exemption. I told one of the workers what I wanted and
he suggested Office 365 for $100 that can be used up to five computers. What???
I was a bit confused why this price was so much more reasonable—but I
was feeling pretty happy. After I drove
home, I tried to load the software. An
error message came up saying the product wasn’t activated. The instructions said to take the card and the
receipt back to the store to have them activate the product. So I drove ten miles back into town. At Best Buy I was informed that the product
had been properly activated—the problem was on Microsoft’s end. Argh!! The manager said to try loading it
again. Microsoft was aware of the problem
and was seeking to fix it—be patient and keep trying it over the next few
days. My other option was to bring my
computers into the store and the Geek Squad would get it loaded for me. Hmmm??? Drive back to Fall Creek and take all
four computers in, leave them at Best Buy, and then drive back home again. I don’t think so. I did try re-entering the code after I got
home. It still gives me the same error
message. Ever have a day like that? Almost wonderful but at the same time
frustrating.
I am not certain why but all day long the little toe on my left foot
has been itching and burning. I’ve been
longing to take my shoe off and rub it until it feels better. I won’t call it phantom pain because it is
nothing like the lightning bolts of pain that some amputees have; instead I
will call it “phantom discomfort” because there is very little I can do to
relieve the feeling that I am having. I
am grateful that I have had very few moments of pain since my amputation in
December 2013. I know that many people
are not so fortunate as I have been.
Thinking about those with severe phantom pain and wishing them relief!
At church on Friday afternoon I walked in the yard and in the gravel
around the building. The instructions I
got from my therapist on Thursday really helped me as I walked. I was much more relaxed and the short walk
went well. Practice, practice, practice!
I had a counseling appointment in the evening and then headed for home
to relax and start the bedtime routine early enough to get a good night’s
sleep.
Thought for the Day:
“However desperate your life may seem, there is hope. As bad as circumstances appear, there are
better days ahead. No matter how dire your circumstances may appear, you can
rise above them. To wish for change will
change nothing. To make the decision to
take action right now will change everything!
...If you feel frustrated right now, that’s okay. Your sense of frustration means you want more
for your life than you have right now.
That’s all good. Often it’s the
challenges in life that show us who we are truly meant to be.” [Nick Vujicic, Life Without Limits].
Why do we often let our circumstances determine our mood and outlook in
life? Very rarely will those things lead
us anywhere but down. That negative
focus often leads us to believe that nothing is possible. If we believe that is true then we never even
try and nothing will be accomplished.
I would suggest that instead we look towards the positive and expand
our beliefs of what is possible. If we
try, we might just find that some things which we assumed were impossible were
really possible. And even if we find out
that our dreams don’t come true; we’ve gained some valuable experiences along
the way. Our lives will be fuller and
richer for having lived our lives stretching and grasping to reach just a bit
further. It’s fairly certain that our
lives will be duller if we only strive to achieve what we are certain that we
can grasp. It is the challenge of
striving for the possible and potentially improbable that makes life exciting.
I just saw a
video of Kacy Catanzaro. She is the
first female to complete the semi-final round of American Ninja Warrior
(ANW). ANW is an extremely physical and
mental challenging obstacle course competition.
What make her victory so amazing is that she in only five foot tall and
weighs 100 lbs. Most men fail the course
that she completed. Looking at her size
and the odds against her being successful, most people would have encouraged
Kacy to never even try. But she did and
she was successful. Let’s be realistic,
Kacy is not the first woman to compete in the American Ninja Warrior
competition—so I am not suggesting that if you just “dream it you can achieve
it.” But I do know that if you give up
before you even try; you will never achieve anything. So why not take a chance and swing for the
fence—you might just hit a home run. And
no matter the outcome, enjoy the game along the way.
Right now
your life may be the pits; but you don’t have to remain there. Begin to make small changes that will result
in a large change over the course of time.
Before you know it, your life will be vastly different than what it is
now.
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