As I was strolling down Memory Lane this evening (via old photos, videos, and documents in my Dropbox account), I stumbled across this document that I wrote after breaking my ankle in 2008. The relevance of my own words were a striking reminder to myself, 6 years later, to slow down and smell the roses, yet again. So for those of you who enjoy my words, or who need a little reminder to slow down, here you go: As I contemplate the happenings of the past few months in my life, two particular sayings come to mind: “Dreams do come true,” chased by the infamous “Be careful what you wish for!” For the past two months, I have been living my dream. My every wish to my fairy godmother fulfilled as I sit on my La-Z-Boy throne in the corner of our living room, watching as faithful servants clean my house, make my dinner, chase my kids (and all the other inevitable dirty business that goes along with being the mother of two small girls, if you know what I mean), run my errands, rub my feet….well, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit; the only foot rub I got was with a scalpel and my recliner is a far cry from a La-Z-Boy, but you get the idea. For years, I have been begging God to send somebody else to do all the stuff I have to do. As always, God is faithful, and doesn’t always answer our prayers in the manner we would expect. Unfortunately, the answer to my prayers came in the form of a muddy pothole and a broken ankle, forcing my busy life to come to a screeching halt, smacking me in the face with the realization that life is about more than clean floors and organized closets, and if I wasn’t so busy doing nothing, I would have understood a long time ago that all my dreams have already come true… It’s easy for me to sound so optimistic about things now, my recovery is in full swing and things are slowly getting back to “normal”, but my song hasn’t always been so sweet. This experience has been a rollercoaster, providing me with invaluable life lessons and memories at the peaks, and harsh self-evaluations and pity-parties in the dips. As I sat in the emergency department on April 5 with an ankle that looked like it was ready to give birth, I fully expected the doctor to give me some ibuprofen and send me on my way. When he opened his mouth and said I needed to see an orthopedic surgeon as soon as possible and predicted no weight-bearing for up to eight weeks, I looked over my shoulder to see what unlucky soul he was talking to. Upon realization that those words were directed at me, I was in shock- almost as much as my poor husband. The next few weeks were a whirlwind of dates with the doc, surgery, and endless feelings of helplessness and despair- I didn’t have time for this! My husband and I have two daughters, and after my accident, my husband became the proud single papa of three girls, ages one, four and twenty-five. Without hesitation, our family and friends scheduled themselves to be here with us every single day while I was bound to the chair, with my leg elevated to the high heavens. At my lowest point, I broke down. An excerpt from my journal: “I feel like I have totally lost control. Basically, for the last month (actually, almost 5 weeks since the actual incident), I have been totally reliant on others....and so have the girls. For someone like me who thrives on being in control, I am lost. It is SO hard- more than I can describe- to sit here in this stupid chair and let go. Let someone else get the baby out of her crib in the morning. Let someone else make the girls breakfast. Let someone else make ME breakfast. Take another stupid bath backwards in our dinky tub with my leg hanging over the side and the faucet in my back....yadayadayada. Our lives have been turned upside down, and I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for those who have stopped their lives and changed their schedules to help us that I cant stand it. I KNOW that there is NOTHING I can do to even begin to repay everyone.” The entry went on, and the emotions I felt that night were powerful. From that night forward, I began to see each day in a new light. With no obligations crowding my days, I set out to find the blessings in this mess. What I have discovered has changed my life forever. I found that we are blessed beyond belief to have such extraordinary family and friends. I found that the world didn’t fall off its axis just because I fell on mine. Most importantly, I found that time flies. I will have my whole life to clean and organize and make lists….but my babies are growing up before my eyes. So I guess the moral of my story is this: Enjoy your life, no matter what situation you are in, because everything can change in an instant. Never take your blessings for granted, and recognize the importance of loved ones in your life….because that is what life is all about. Oh, and watch your step!
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 22:03:19 +0000
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