A friend suggested this title to me for my next blog entry after discovering that i hadnt written in my blog for more than a year. I dismissed it at that time because a) I was in the throes of maddening numbing pain after my ankle operation and b) ummm i was depressed because i was in the throes of maddening numbing pain after my ankle operation. So even though i did vaguely think that i would like to write about this experience as it has been one of the most painful and difficult episodes of my life till date. Especially as i tend to forget difficult periods and only moan about the problems that have befallen me at that exact period in time or get depressed about nothing at all. Short-sighted but thats how things have always worked out in my life. Coincidentally just before I fell and while I was still in Singapore I had borrowed a book called "making hope happen" by shane lopez who is a renowned gallup scientist. A very inspiring book for sure and it was my companion through the screaming nights of pain in the hospital and sometimes depressing sometimes inspiring days and nights of my now 5 week recovery period (if your takeaway from that was that i am a slow reader, that was completely not the point and untrue to boot as i finished 2 other books in the same period...you need to absorb some books and not just rush through them). One of the interesting parts of the book was how relevant the ancient greek text Odysseus is to modern day hopeful thinking and decision making. He copes with the sirens i.e. Distractions by recruiting the help of others i.e. His canaries. I am hoping that this post will act as one of my canaries in helping me on the path to progress towards my goals.
So anyway without digressing further or providing more boring background, let me just plunge into the benefits (from the optimist's point of view) of a bed-ridden world:
1. You can order everyone around, dont need to do anything yourself and get pampered and pitied
even if the fall was the result of a drunken high heeled sojourn in a nightclub. Best. Result. Ever.
2. 5 weeks paid leave, great home food and tons of time with family. Of course i was working from home and did have to work quite a bit for a week, but i realllyyy cant complain at all! The bonus was that i got to stay home during the holiday period and no one could really complain that i didnt do enough work as there wasnt too much work anyway.
3. My liver will thank me forever. No or negligible alcohol for 6 weeks! This hasnt happened since...2008 i think! Wow!
4. I knew acute pain for the first time in my life and as a corollary i know what it means to be pain-free - my usual state of affairs but which i never appreciated. Have you ever had nightmares when you have been screaming and howling in pain and then suddenly you are woken up and its bright sunshine and the world is still a happy place? Thats how i feel nowadays...aah ok. Im not mary poppins yet but you know what i mean right?
5. When i finally walked with minimal support and then with no support, all the internet horror stories fled like ants drenched in water...it was freedom. It was wonderful and i am sure if i was that kind of girl or in an ekta kapoor serial, i would have had a few glycerine tears to shed. Now looking forward to my first run...first dance...i think dr. Lopez, i have taken the first baby steps towards hope...
So anyway without digressing further or providing more boring background, let me just plunge into the benefits (from the optimist's point of view) of a bed-ridden world:
1. You can order everyone around, dont need to do anything yourself and get pampered and pitied
even if the fall was the result of a drunken high heeled sojourn in a nightclub. Best. Result. Ever.
2. 5 weeks paid leave, great home food and tons of time with family. Of course i was working from home and did have to work quite a bit for a week, but i realllyyy cant complain at all! The bonus was that i got to stay home during the holiday period and no one could really complain that i didnt do enough work as there wasnt too much work anyway.
3. My liver will thank me forever. No or negligible alcohol for 6 weeks! This hasnt happened since...2008 i think! Wow!
4. I knew acute pain for the first time in my life and as a corollary i know what it means to be pain-free - my usual state of affairs but which i never appreciated. Have you ever had nightmares when you have been screaming and howling in pain and then suddenly you are woken up and its bright sunshine and the world is still a happy place? Thats how i feel nowadays...aah ok. Im not mary poppins yet but you know what i mean right?
5. When i finally walked with minimal support and then with no support, all the internet horror stories fled like ants drenched in water...it was freedom. It was wonderful and i am sure if i was that kind of girl or in an ekta kapoor serial, i would have had a few glycerine tears to shed. Now looking forward to my first run...first dance...i think dr. Lopez, i have taken the first baby steps towards hope...
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