Now that the only sign of my two weeks of misery is a persistent cough which, thankfully, comes and goes, I’m looking out at the world again, and what I see is making me rather ashamed of my whiny behavior over being housebound for the better part of two weeks with nobody to make me chicken soup. (ok, the last part is a bit over the top, but I’m glad I was alone because I was rather a pill for those two weeks, and not fit for man or beast, though my nurse kitties were very patient with me!)
Despite the continuing intermittent abdominal pains which medical science has assured me is nothing more than gas pains, I am fortunate to enjoy extremely good health. Meanwhile, a lot of people who are years younger than I am are having to undergo major surgery to alleviate pain I can’t even imagine, even with my excessively high pain threshold. Even my mother had to undergo a hysterectomy when she was a number of years younger than I am. Though in all fairness, her mental state very likely contributed to her physical problems.
What makes me realize how much gratitude I need to express is that even when I was at my lowest point, mentally, my physical self continued to chug along, offering me nothing worse than the occasional migraine, which, for the most part, I’ve learned to minimize anyway.
I do understand that each of us is given challenges which will further the lessons we need to learn, I still have trouble understanding how some of the health issues which have been visited upon my family, friends and acquaintances are truly necessary for them to learn what they need to. Couldn’t they get a milder case? Sort of like when I was a kid and contracted something called Scarletina which is a mild version of the more dangerous Scarlet Fever. (though as young as I was at the time, I have a feeling that lesson was intended more for my mother than for me!) Sure, that was when it was determined that I was allergic to penicillin, the first of many antibiotics my body would eventually reject, some rather dramatically. For that, alone, I can’t begin to express my gratitude over my continued good health!
Another reason to be grateful lies in my living situation. Should I be laid up for an extended period of time, I would be hard pressed to find someone to look after my basic needs. I could hardly expect my daughter to leave her husband and animals to stay with me for several weeks! (quite frankly, if it came up, I’d find a way to keep it from her so she wouldn’t try!) As wonderful as the kids were when I had my knee surgery, I was a terrible patient, earning my son-in-law’s stink eye on more than one occasion, and couldn’t help feeling like I was imposing when I had to ask for help with grocery shopping and such.
I’ve reached the conclusion that the health gods know what they’re doing where I’m concerned. They figure they might as well let me be healthy because I’m just too bloody independent to settle down and let someone take care of me for a little while!
But I do want to ask those same health gods to be kinder to the people around me and stop giving them pain and stuff that needs to be surgically removed or repaired!
My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am exceedingly grateful for my good health and my high pain threshold. (Who knew you weren’t supposed to be able to walk around the hospital the day after a C-section? Trust me, once they removed that stinkin’ catheter, the first thing I wanted was to be out of that bed, and the second was to see and hold my two, new daughters! So what if my guts had seen the light of day not 24 hours earlier?)
2. I am grateful that I am given the opportunity to be there for my friends when the health gods forget to smile upon them as they do me.
3. I am grateful for productive days of writing.
4. I am grateful for new ideas to market my scribbles.
5. I am grateful for reminders to hold on to my dreams and never stop believing that they will come true.
Love and light.
