The more time I spend with my mother
The more time I spend with my mother, the more I have come to actively appreciate being able to do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. At 92, most simple tasks are a real challenge for her, but rather than give up, she’s found alternate ways to accomplish them. And she’s pretty proud of her ingenuity.
Yesterday, for example, I started to open a new container of eyedrops for her. She stopped me immediately. “Watch how I do it,” she instructed me. She then reached into a drawer and withdrew a metal nut pick. Even with extreme carpal tunnel in both wrists, she managed to use the tool to peel off the outside seal. Then she took a nutcracker and successfully released the lid. I was impressed! When I told her she was amazing, she grinned from ear to ear — “at the dinner table downstairs, we have a good time sharing all the different ways we’ve invented to do those things we can’t do in the old ways anymore.” A moment later she added, “Of course, there are those who have either given up completely or call for help to do everything.”
Go . . . mama!!
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” — Michael Jordan
“The greater the obstacle, the more the glory in overcoming it”. — Moliere
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” — Helen Keller
May today be a day that we open our eyes and our hearts to seeing obstacles as invitations for creative thinking.
