Sometimes life is perfect and we don't realize how lucky we have it until fate gobsmacks us upside the head and changes everything. When my neurologist showed me the lesions on my MRI and started handing me DVDs about multiple sclerosis and booklets on auto-injectors, I just really couldn't take it all in. Then suddenly I was getting calls from a nurse named Maria to set up an appointment to teach me how to give myself shots. I joked that the only needles I really liked were sewing needles. The kind that you get shots with? Not so much. But Maria was very encouraging, and soon I was giving myself shots like a pro. I learned all about MS treatments in an intensive 2 week course. It's been educational.
I thank all of my Gentle Readers for their wonderful and thoughtful reading suggestions. I suddenly have much more down time to spend reading, since right now I am having trouble walking far. Through all of this personal turmoil, I'd like to note that sewing and reading about sewing has made me feel calmer and more in control of my fate.
Back when I was in high school, I took a Wilderness Survival class, mainly because the teacher said when they announced the class that it was for boys only and that girls weren't tough enough to do "real backpacking". I enlisted my mom to make a few calls to the school board, and suddenly I was going backpacking too. A few other girls signed up as well, and we proved on that trip that we could do anything that the boys did. (I'd like to also point out that we were also cleaner and brought better snacks.)
I have pictures to prove to my kids that I really did do rapelling, rock climbing and swimming in ice cold alpine lakes. At the end of the trip, the instructor told me he thought we had true grit. High praise from a sexist pig. I hope he learned something too. Grit and determination aren't attached to gender.
I learned that summer that when you are tired you can still go farther. You can do more than you think you can do. I am learning this summer that I need to pick my projects carefully. I only have so much energy and strength and so I need to choose wisely what I do every day. But really, isn't this a lesson that we all must learn eventually? Time's a-ticking. We won't always have unlimited time or energy or strength to do everything in our lives that we have planned. We must Choose Wisely.
If you do, you'll be prepared when and if fate gobsmacks you upside the head. Now where did I put my hiking boots...
5 comments:
a little slower gives you time to catch the scenery, my friend.
I wish you the very best possible health and treatment.
Good words, thanks.
May you have peace like the rain here in Vancouver.
Good to have you back with us! And your words are very wise . . . life is way too short and we all need to choose, as much as possible, to do what's the most important. Wishing you MANY years of good health and happiness!
Wow, talk about a life change! Good luck with your new diagnosis, I admire your positive attitude.
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