Usually I love winter, but this year I am ready for it to DIE.
Ice and I have just not gotten along this year.
In my last post about falling, I mentioned how scared and depressed I was about the possibility of having to have surgery on a damaged scaphoid.
I now have a festive St. Patty’s Day cast that weighs one million pounds and makes me feel like I have elephantiasis, but it is SO much more comfortable than the last one. And I only have to wear it for 15 more days. (Hopefully!) Yes, we have a paper chain.
Plus I have love notes from my kids and friends on the other side where I can see it.
I’ve learned how to prop up my arm with a pile of pillows and create a little pillow/leg nest to feed Jackson in, how to use my left elbow to do the dishes along with my right hand, how to put the shampoo bottle in my arm pit to squeeze shampoo into my right hand while in the shower, and other things I hope I will never have to use again.
But what I have learned the most is to slow down, listen to my body and let people help me.
That pile of emails that are stacked in my virtual mailbox? They can wait until the morning if I can barely keep my eyes open in the evening when this house is quiet enough to concentrate on said emails. Healing bone is hard work.
That frustration I felt about not being able to clean my glasses well or bathe my baby? Well, my bestie took care of that for me and brought lunch along with her. And I let her.
My neighbors that call and tell me that they are taking my kids for the afternoon or coming to clean my kitchen? I learned to say, “Yes. I need help.”
My mother-in-law’s best friend who just showed up one afternoon with a basket full of dinner and treats? Yeah, I was a weepy mess when I answered the door and I just let her hug me.
I know other people suffer more than this. I’ve suffered more than this! I know it is just a measly little broken bone. But NO ONE has the time to be hurt–emotionally, physically or spiritually. It is ALWAYS inconvenient.
It’s what we do with our hardships (no matter how big or small they are) that sets the tone for our recovery. After my week long pity party and binge eating, I pulled myself together a little. “What can I learn from this?” I pondered while laying in bed one morning.
Instead of being frustrated that I fell, I counted my blessings that it wasn’t worse. I rejoiced in my husband’s decision to follow promptings 2 years ago and get an accident rider on our insurance that will just about totally cover the millions of x-rays I’ve had and specialists I’ve seen. (But probably not my Wendy’s bill. Darnit.)
Tender mercies, friends. There were happy tears.
Again I have learned that our loving Father doesn’t always take away our stumbling blocks, but He can keep us from hurting worse.
Maybe one day He won’t have to use a megaphone!
Love it!
Loved your post. And loved that quote by C.S. Lewis. That quote is particularly applicable considering some of the struggles C.S. Lewis went through. In his biography, “Surprised By Joy,” C.S. Lewis described a rare condition in his thumbs that prevented him from creating in the ways that he wanted to. He described his frustration in not being able to use his hands to build the castles of his imagination. So he turned to paper and pen. In a way, he became the writer that we all admire so much BECAUSE of his crippled hands. I don’t know if you’ve heard that story before, but I thought it was especially applicable to your current situation. Hope you get feeling better soon!