Update:
Yesterday, I had breakfast, did my exercises, then took a shower and
dressed for going out after lunch. I got
a ride to my office at 1:30 p.m. I got a
lot done at work: a number of get well/praying for you cards written, completed
the marriage certificate for Tyler and Hannah’s wedding and got that mailed;
got three letters written, made good progress in preparing for Sunday’s
message. Sent a number of emails and
answered a few back. I sorted some
mail. All in all it was a
pretty normal day at the office, which in itself is pretty amazing. After about 3½ hours, I went into the Student
Ministry room and laid down on a couch for thirty minutes to relive the ache in
my hip joint (probably the wrong use of the word “laid”—but you know what I
mean). I made a number of phone calls
while I was stretched out.
My wife, Karen, came and picked me up about 6 p.m. and we went into Eau
Claire to do some grocery shopping.
While we were there we grabbed dinner.
By the time we got home and unloaded it was 9 p.m. While I was more than ready for bed, I was
amazed at how my strength and endurance have been returning. A few weeks ago, I would have been totally
wiped out by my day—now, not so much.
The chairman of the Elders wasn’t feeling up to meeting, so the rest of
us met at my house this morning. That
meeting took up most of the morning. I
had to wait to get my first set of exercises done until after lunch. Besides
this meeting, I attended the Church Council meeting Monday night. It has been awhile since I’ve attended any
church meetings. I am just now feeling
like I can contribute something by attending.
I am very thankful for the good group of leaders that I have at the
church. They have kept things going
without a hitch despite my absence. A
few things had been put aside until my return, but overall things kept going
well
I’m heading to the Fire Department in Altoona this evening for
recertification in CPR/AED. I won’t be
able to get and kneel on the floor to do the compressions, but I was assured
that we could work something out so I can stay current. Maybe they’ll put the dummy up on a table
where I can stand on one leg and demonstrate the skills. I just imagined that might lead to me
boasting, “Well that’s so simple—I can do it standing on one leg!” My daughter,
Kate, is taking me to drop me off at the FD; I’ll probably try to get one of
the firefighters or police officer to give me a ride home.
Thought for the Day:
One of the weird things about being in a wheelchair for the last seven
weeks is how my perspective has changed.
Being only about three feet off the floor while seated makes countertops
look high, upper cabinets out of reach, and people like giants (I look up to
everyone now). I’ve started standing for
a couple of minutes every hour or so to stretch my hip joint out and things
look SO very different from that height.
It’s not normal to me anymore. In
just those few short weeks, my whole perspective of what is normal has been
altered. I stood up for a couple minutes
at a meeting two nights ago and those attending mentioned how strange it was to
see me standing, even momentarily. So
their perception of me has changed in that time as well.
How you look at things really makes a big difference. This last fall, my son, Jonathan, was working
on his old 1993 Honda. He wanted to
change the brake pads on the rear end.
It seemed like that for every piece that he removed another piece
broke. Instead of getting closer to
being done, the project kept growing and growing. Eventually after several trips to the auto parts
store and many hours of labor later, the car was repaired. Jon enjoyed the process of doing it himself. Everything that went wrong, Jon saw as an
opportunity to learn more about the car and how to fix it. Me, I would have gone nuts with frustration! “I only wanted to fix the car, not rebuild
the whole rear end!” My wife thinks that
I am loony for sitting outside in the cold for hours to deer hunt—and don’t
even talk about sitting out on a bucket on a frozen lake ice fishing! She finds doing plays relaxing; I wouldn’t
put up with all the late nights and lack of sleep during tech week.
Your perspective flavors how you interpret different events in your
life. When I was a kid it seemed like
summer lasted FOREVER; now if I think that I have all summer to get a project
done, “that’s not much time” because it seems to go by so fast. Any event in our life can be seen from
various perspectives. We might naturally
look at that event from a perspective that casts it into a negative light. But seen from a different perspective it
transforms it into a positive.
When I found out that my next appointment with the surgeon was set back
two additional weeks—I viewed that as a very negative event and was upset by
the extra delay. From my perspective, it
is so far away. My wife likened it to
the way a kid views that Christmas is still two weeks away—an eternity! When I stop to think about it, what is
another two weeks? I’ve already been
alive about 2,925 weeks; two more weeks is a tiny percentage of my entire
life. In the grand scheme of things, it
is nothing; a mere drop in the bucket.
With a little work I can re-calibrate my thinking to accept that
perspective as my primary outlook. I don’t
want to; but for sanity sake, I’ve got to.
It takes some mental effort to keep that perspective in place at first,
but over time it becomes more natural.
Things that you can change--go ahead and change. Those things that cannot be changed; seek to
accept them or work around them but don’t let them eat you alive. Your thoughts can give you ulcers if you are
constantly upset and stressed. Instead do
what you are able to relieve that stress and relax.
So what is bothering you? What
are you looking at that has your emotions rolling? What is challenging your peace and
sanity? Why don’t you stop and see if
you can re-calibrate your perspective.
Give yourself the gift of peace. You’ll
have to actively take control of your thoughts at times and choose not to dwell
on certain things; but you have a choice.
It is possible. It’s worth a
try. Do it for yourself and for those
around you.
