Getting Up and Getting Out

I don’t want to sound like Pollyanna here, but the trees are still swaying in the breeze, the birds are still singing, people are still drinking coffee and chatting. There’s a pandemic, to be sure, and I hope you’re taking precautions, but there’s a lot you can still do. Nature walks, or rides in a wheelchair, are just as wonderful as ever, if not more so, since you’ve had a close call with death. There’s nothing stopping you from grabbing a pair of binoculars and going birding. Have you tried taking up painting, making pots, sculpting? 

No, you’re not going to enter the Olympics anytime soon. Maybe going to the gym would be a triumph. But…think about what you’ve always figured you might try someday. Then try it. 

I always thought I could be a writer. I’ve got notebooks filled with stuff going back to when I was a teenager. But it wasn’t until I had my stroke that I got serious about it. Look at me now! 

I’m getting better at other things, to be sure, but the blank page has become my best friend. I had to give up my career, but I’ve got a whole new one. I’ve got time for other things, too. The stroke did that for me. 

There are some positive things about terrible experiences. Find out what they are for you, and take advantage of them.