Yes. That was the description of my walk. (From someone who loves me.) I laughed, even though laughing still hurts, but I thought that I was doing a good job with walking. I can’t see myself, I’m just happy to be mobile again. I wrote in a FB comment that my walk was figuratively “clocked” at 0.5 miles per hour. And the running joke is that I walk like Fred Sanford (A loving family member hums the theme song as I move about) and sometimes I get the Captain Kirk references — consider the speech pattern put to movement in slow motion. Sigh …
I keep a little notebook and write about how I’m feeling and I wrote this about a week ago:
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“Appreciating what you have when you have it.”
We don’t always appreciate what we have until it’s gone. It sounds cliche’ and you hear it all of the time in sermons, maybe even in the media, but it’s true. You think about pain when it exists. But recently, I’m remembering to thank God during times when the pain isn’t there.
I used to work in a gym and teach aerobics – yes, I really did (during grad school)! I used to play racquetball in the morning and do step aerobics in the afternoons — I really did. More recently, I’d been tied to the computer for work so walking was the exercise of choice. But there is something humbling about being in a hospital and being unable to walk or do anything without help and lots of painkillers.
A few months ago I was blogging and taking pictures during my daily walks on the beach as I jumped waves and ran gleefully against the tides. That was just a few months ago. And what about the winter wonderland trip to the mountains with my students? I had my ski pants and Merrill boots and was hiking through the trails of western Maryland with no idea that today I’d barely be able to walk. It’s humbling.
While my lack of mobility is temporary (also remembering that for some, this is a regular way of life!), and while I’m scheduled to be back to “normal” by the summer, it’s still humbling to go from running and jumping and hiking to just being happy that you can take a few steps with a “cane” and sit and stand by yourself. I’d like to do a better job of not taking things for granted and being even more cognizant of my blessings.
Categories: All, Health & Wellness
Renetta Garrison Tull - Living Life Online 