NastyMcT : Alaskan Blogger

Humbled…

alaska, blog, wasilla

I haven’t posted in awhile. If you know me personally, you know i’ve had a TON of things going on. I promise I will be a better blogger in the near future.

Today, I’m reminded of what a pussy I am. Let me explain…

This morning I’m at the bookstore cafe, nabbing free wifi… getting my caffeine fix, and procrastinating on my packing and cleaning.

I’m drinking my coffee, a woman comes through the door, using an upright walker that requires her to lean on the armpads. Her aide follows her, but does not assist in her ambulation. The walker is tall. The arm rests are high, where you would normally rest your arms if you bent them 90 degrees. The legs have wheels, which allows her to stand upright, lean on the armrests as she scoots it along and walks every so slowly. But she walks. She is clearly a candidate for a wheelchair, and it would get her to her destination much quicker… easier. She chooses to challenge herself. She chooses the difficulty. She is not a whimp.

The gravity of that hits me, I get emotional and my eyes well up with tears… not because I feel sorry for her, but the opposite. I feel sorry for the rest of us. Would I have the balls to do that? Have the determination to go out in public with a walker, knowing it will take me 10 minutes to walk 20 feet up the counter to order my coffee?

I hope so. I DO love coffee.

I guess this is a question I could never really answer unless faced with type of challenge. But I think about it now… and wonder what I would do. And then I think, what a pussy I am. I whine because my neck hurts, my ankle hurts, my ovary hurts… SO WHAT. I can walk. Easily. I have physical freedom, to move from place to place without a thought. I’m overly thankful for this. If it was taken from me tomorrow, I hope that I would push forward and adapt. I hope I have not taken these abilities for granted.

I do not know what disabling condition this woman’s body challenges her with. Something neurological and muscular. Yet I do not consider her disabled. WE, the relatively healthy, are the disabled ones. Not appreciating the gifts we are blessed with, and reaching our full potential each and every day.

The next time I’m feeling sorry for myself, I will remember this woman. Not the rock stars, the movie stars, or the sports stars. This woman is my inspiration.

It’s the way we face and handle challenges in our lives that defines us. Not the balances in our bank accounts, the things we own, our physical beauty. In the middle of the night when you’re listening to the darkness… how do you feel about the way you made it through the day? Were you kind? Were you an asshole? If faced with something debilitating tomorrow, would you be happy with where you’ve been? the path you’ve taken?

If no, change your direction. It’s that simple.

I physically challenged myself this summer, to hike, push my limits. Even though I never made it all the way to Government Peak, I’m satisfied with my attempts. The journey was the challenge, and was satisfying. Our bodies challenge us at different times in our lives. Sometimes it’s only temporary, sometimes not. I hope that I have the strength to face anything that comes my way. I think I do.

Our minds are powerful in ways we don’t understand. With any difficulty, our minds have the ability to move us forward, or stop us in our tracks and render us useless.

Laura

Albert Einstein
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

Abraham Lincoln
“And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years.”

John Lennon
“Life is what’s going on while your making other plans.”

Henry Ford
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Mahatma Gandhi
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Deepak Chopra
“Anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given. ”

Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”

Joshua Marine
“Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

Mark Twain
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

William Blake
“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.”

Martin Luther King, JR
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

James F. Byrnes
“Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death.”

Helen Keller
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. “

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