I was jealous.
For minutes I sat there and watched and was totally consumed by the thoughts of life with both arms and a face that worked.
God, I wanted it. I did. I would have given my one good leg to have a fully functional torso again.
Then it went away. I let go of it.
Yes, they have both arms.
There are indescribable pains and losses that have come with their handicaps and disabilities. Things I can’t and don’t know about. Things my mind glosses over to get to the arms I wish I had.
A part of me knows what bodily losses they suffer.
Think about it. Losing control of everything below your chest or waist.
Ever looked at that other woman? You know her. She walks by and you think an unkind thought. Her body is banging after all those kids. Her hair, makeup and clothes always look impeccable. She drives a kickass car to a housegasm.
And she has the gall to be NICE!
That niceness means she invites you out for coffee and decides to spill her guts.
She thinks her husband is cheating on her and found out her teenage daughter is pregnant. She even confesses the perfect hair you’ve always envied is a wig. She has Alopecia and is totally bald.
All of a sudden you realize that this person you’ve been imagining in this blessed life actually suffering the kinds of problems you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.
Much like my moment of clarity you realize that while there is something enviable about what the other person might have, but there’s someone probably wishing they had your life right now.
Love what you have.
Yes, always work at your best but never let the expectations of what should be steal the joy from what is.
All great points. But the real gem in this post? “Housegasm”. If that has already made the rounds and I missed it, well, then it’s not the first thing I missed. But I’d rather just continue my day thinking you invented it.
Chara´s last post…School Year Resolutions
Grass is always greener never rang more true…
Incredibly true, we see what we think we see so very often.
L. McG.-E.´s last post…New year, last year.
Words of wisdom, as always.
Gotta tell you I’m gonna be in that stadium in 3 weeks time to watch a session at the paralympics. I am SO excited and looking forward to it. USA will probably beat us in the overall medal count, but who cares – COME ON TEAM GB!!
I really needed this reminder today. I say this to my kids all the time. But need to heed it for myself.
Maggie S.´s last post…Comment on Flying Surrender by Carrie
Amen to that! I wish more people would take this into account.
Kelly´s last post…Sessions, Sessions, Sessions! A BlogHer12 Recap
Yep. You NAILED this one babe.
The Animated Woman´s last post…Call Me Maybe.
Love this and love you!
Kristin´s last post…Sometimes People Do Change