I had a lot of time to think when I was in the hospital-this can be good and bad for a young child. I spent many hours trying to lift my paralyzed legs and move those infamous toes! Things were happening very quickly in my recovery so I never knew what tomorrow may bring. It’s funny what happens when you lose the use of part of your body.
I was so thankful that the paralysis that was high in my chest subsided and now the only thing that was still paralyzed were my legs. My arms had sustained absolutely no damage and I focused on strengthening them a little every day. My hearing was excellent! I can still remember hearing the footsteps of my favorite night nurse coming down the hallway to check in on me. She came on at 11pm. It was rare that I ever slept the entire night. My vision was perfect as was my speech and the best thing was I had my full mental faculties-and it was my responsibility to develop them to the fullest!
Sometimes in all the sorrow and trauma I think its a good idea for a parent to remind their child of all the blessings they still have. Children have a tendency to sometime focus on that one thing that isn’t working or that one thing they can no longer do. We all need a reminder now and again of all the things we can do.
I have had the pleasure of Hearing W Mitchell speak on several occasions. Mitchell was hit on his motorcycle and it burst into flames. He spent years recovering from those serious burns. He didn’t let a little thing like that stop him-he kept on and learned to fly. On one of those flights his plane came in for a rough landing and there was an accident…Mitchell emerged from the accident as a paraplegic. Many people would find all of these accidents to be terribly inconvenient-not Mitchell.
Mitchell tells audiences around the world:
Before I was paralyzed there were 10,000 things I could do. Now there are 9,000. I can either dwell on the 1,000 I’ve lost or focus on the 9,000 I have left.”
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