Update:
After my bike ride on Monday morning, I spent the rest of the afternoon
and the evening sorting through my clothes.
Having already lost well over 20 pounds and six inches on the waistline,
most of my clothes were baggy and hanging on me. One of my sons told me that I looked like a
kid who just got his older brother’s hand-me-downs. Yikes!
I found a few smaller things that fit well enough for now including an
old suit that fits perfectly now. I am
hoping to avoid having to buy too many clothes until I reach my goal weight, so
if it seems like I wear the same thing over and over—well you are probably
correct. I need to have a couple of
pairs of pants altered to fit over my prosthesis and buy one or two dress
shirts for Sunday use. I have a number
of t-shirts and polo shirts in 2X size and a number of button-up shirts in 18 ½
inches (some short sleeve, some long sleeve) to give away. If anyone can put them to use let me know
otherwise some will go to Goodwill or Hope Gospel later this week.
I checked out the weight of my prosthesis—as near as I can tell my
current one weighs 8 pounds (it is MUCH lighter than my test socket was). It was hard for me to balance and hold
perfectly still with only one leg on the scale; so I kept getting an error
message; consequently my estimate may be off.
My scale wouldn’t register any weight when I just tried to weigh the
socket and the liner by themselves. To
get an accurate weight without a prosthesis, I probably would need a scale I
could sit on—I can see why everyone just has you weigh with your prosthesis on—it
is much easier.
During the thunderstorms passing through, I remembered that I had
cracked my truck windows earlier in the day when it was hot and sunny—I elected
to wait for a break in the weather to go out and shut them. Fortunately, not much water had gotten into
the truck—as I was drying everything off, I noticed that we had a complete
rainbow in the sky. Many people in the
Eau Claire area saw a complete double rainbow.
Such a beautiful thing that God has created!
I finished the day by taking a shower and washing the various socks and
liners for my prosthesis. Afterwards I
spent time reading before bed.
Thought for the Day:
Here’s a few excerpts from the introduction of a book I’ve just begun reading,
“Life Without Limits” by Nick Vujicic.
He’s a 27 year old who was born without limbs.
“My goal is to encourage you to overcome your own challenges and
hardships so you can find your own purpose and pathway to a ridiculously good
life. Often we feel life is unfair. Hard times and tough circumstances can
trigger self-doubt and despair…”
“I eventually figured it out, and through my experiences I can help you
see that most of the hardships we face provide us with opportunities to
discover who we are meant to be and what we can share of our gifts to benefit
others…”
What my family and I could not foresee was that my disability—my ‘burden’—could
also be a blessing, offering me unique opportunities for reaching out to
others, empathizing with them, understanding their pain, and offering them
comfort. Yes, I do have distinct
challenges, but I also am blessed with a loving family, with a keen enough mind,
and with a deep and abiding faith…”
“[As a teenager] Of course, I am all too human and wanted to be like
everyone else, but there seemed little chance for that. I wanted to be accepted. I felt I wasn’t. I wanted to fit in. It seemed I didn’t. And I hit a wall. My heart ached. I was depressed, overwhelmed with negative
thoughts, and didn’t see any point in my life.
I felt alone even when I was surrounded by family and friends. I worried that I would always be a burden to
those I loved. But I was so, so wrong.”
Looking at Nick’s life helps give me perspective whenever I am tempted
to wallow in a poor attitude because of my circumstances. I am really looking forward to reading the
book and learning what he has to say. I’ve
seen a couple of YouTube videos of him making a presentation to students at
school—I found it captivating. I’d
encourage you to get the book or do a little research on-line and see what he
has to offer for yourself.
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