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The Gift
March 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The Gift
This has been a week of creating new friends and renewing old. The conversations have been simple, enjoyable, profound, and sometimes quite deep. Some of these individuals have journeyed where I am about to go and others have mountains to climb far different and greater then my own.
As I contemplate what to write, my thoughts keep circling around one particular friend who I was recently blessed to reconnect with again after a year of not seeing her. She is on an uphill climb that challenged her suddenly, without warning, and does not appear to have an end. She was struck with a virus that left scare tissue in her spinal cord and has crippled her with paralysis on her left side. What were her hopes and dreams a year ago before this silent intruder showed up in her life? She had been working for years towards an Olympic dream and had visions of being in Canada in 2010. Yet, one winter morning, she awoke to a body that no longer moved as she had conditioned it to do for so long. The hard work and sacrifices of an athlete aren’t always seen by others so when such crippling effects of such a condition are felt by a person, it surly must be a deeper blow then any of us can comprehend.
As I talked with her about her “Uphill Climb” I heard her speak of a gift that was given in the chaos of this adventure. She had stated that by having this affliction she was given an opportunity to slow down and be with her family so much more. Sometimes it takes stepping back from our pain to recognize the gift it holds for us.
I have another friend who lay in a hospital bed in January with a broken back from a traumatic mountain bike accident. As I searched for the perfect card to bring her. . .I found it. It had a picture of a frog sitting on a lily pad with a quote from Buddha that simply said, “Things to do today: Inhale, Exhale, Inhale, AHHHH.”
In reading this quote, I thought about the gift some are given as they are forced to be still. Too often we rush through life and miss the lessons that these quiet moments are there to teach us. We do not take the time for meditation, reflection, contemplation and healing. I am heading into surgery on the 12th of this month and will have my moments of stillness as I recover. I will savor that time and allow it to be my healing pause in life, and hopefully, after this climb is complete, I will seek after such moments more often instead of being thrust into them. I will, by then, recognize the greater importance and joy moments of stillness can bring to one’s soul. This is truly a gift in the journey.