Feeling Grateful
Just had one of the last birthdays in my 70’s. (Gulp! My 80’s are just around the corner.)
And to add injury to insult, less than two weeks before Turkey Day, I fractured my elbow….on my dominant arm. But I was lucky. No excruciating pain. Only some– mild and intermittent.
As the medical technician painted me in a plexiglass cast from my wrist to my elbow, I started fretting about the challenges ahead, like driving home. Not to mention living alone. It’s a lot harder to manage everyday tasks with only your non-dominant hand, like taking a shower, getting dressed, doing dishes, and opening cans. (I must have a right-handed can opener. I couldn’t figure out how to use it lefty. So I did what I wasn’t supposed to and my arm paid a price.)
What really bums me out is no tennis for 3 months minimum. (For someone who plays three times a week with passion, thinking about that puts me in a pissy mood.) For consolation, I told myself the rainy winter expected this year would likely preclude a lot of tennis, anyway. And, I could sleep in those days.
Then something strange happened. As the technician was finishing up, a feeling came over me…a feeling that said “this isn’t gonna be so bad.” Other thoughts crossed my mind. “It’s not real heavy on my arm. And the blue I picked is a cheery color.”
Inside, I felt a lightness permeate my being. Instead of a sour mood bringing me down, I felt grateful and started recounting how grateful I was that things hadn’t been worse. I could have hit my head, or landed on my tailbone, broken an ankle or a leg. How would I have gotten up or down the 3 flights of stairs to my apartment? Would I have become a shut-in for all those months? Unable to go anywhere or do anything out in the world. Would my only means of communication be the phone, FaceTime, Skype or Zoom?
Instead of indulging in more scary what-ifs, I was adapting to the reality. Finding ways to tighten and tie my shoe laces without wincing. Bought a cheap gizmo from Amazon that made flossing 100 times easier. And improvised with a Hefty draw-string garbage bag to keep my cast dry in the shower.
I got to wondering what would challenge me next and how I would I conquer it with creativity and determination. And now, I started feeling proud of myself in addition to being grateful. Hadn’t felt that way for quite some time, or so it seems.
Who knew by fracturing a bone, I could mend my spirit and get more to be grateful for?
For many, myself included, Thanksgiving has meant, first and foremost, feasting with family and friends on turkey, all the decadent trimmings, and… PIE! PIE! PIE!
Some years, I didn’t give any thought to the significance of Turkey Day. But this year, I am. Thanksgiving is a day to be happy, giving thanks for all your blessings. A day to be grateful. And I was.
Then a voice in my head wondered: “Is gratitude overrated?”
That gave me pause. I’ve always heard and read about gratitude being great, important, very valuable for your personal growth. Certainly not overrated.
“In what way is gratitude “great, important, or valuable? And for whom?””asked the voice.
To me, something is great, important, or valuable if it provides significant benefit. On that definition, for gratitude to be great (important or valuable), it must provide significant benefit.
“Significant benefit for whom?” repeated the voice.
For the direct beneficiary, I said.
“That goes without saying,” the voice replied a bit sarcastically. “What about others involved in the situation besides the direct beneficiary?”
Okay, benefit for all concerned.
In the post entitled “The Benefits of Being Grateful,” I discuss several ways that being grateful can have benefit for all concerned.
